Ford Boulevard bridge to close Wednesday for 5-month-long rebuild

Drivers that travel the Ford Boulevard bridge over East Michigan Avenue regularly as a part of their commute through Ypsilanti Township will be detoured beginning Wednesday as the Washtenaw County Road Commission will be closing the road for five months.

The bridge closure marks the beginning of the $2.6 million reconstruction project that will last until August, which will require a seven-mile detour.

The county has awarded the project to the lowest bidder for the work -- Davis Construction, based in Lansing -- which will complete the project for $2.6 million. That's significantly less than the Road Commission anticipated the project would cost several months ago when they floated a $3.15 million figure as an estimate.

The contractor will begin mobilizing equipment to the site Wednesday and removal of the bridge will begin soon afterward, said Kelly Jones, bridge project manager for the Road Commission.

Spanning both East Michigan Avenue and a set of Northfolk-Southern railroad tracks, the Ford Boulevard bridge is 70 years old and will be completely rebuilt in the project.

About 12,000 vehicles use the bridge each day, according to the road commission.

The following detour will be posted:

• Drivers southbound on North Ford Boulevard: Turn left on to Holmes Road; continue on to eastbound East Michigan Avenue; take the U.S. 12 connector west; exit at Ecorse Road to connect to South Ford Boulevard

The reverse detour will be in effect for drivers northbound on South Ford Boulevard.

The Ypsilanti Township Fire Department’s main route from its station at 222 S. Ford Blvd. to the northern third of the township uses the Ford Boulevard Bridge.

Response times will be increased by two to three minutes because of the closure, said Ypsilanti Township Fire Chief Eric Copeland in a previous interview with AnnArbor.com.

To respond to structure fires in the northern part of Ypsilanti Township, Superior Township fire units will be automatically deployed to assist due to a temporary automatic aid agreement.

View Ford Boulevard bridge detour in a larger map

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.