Niles Street Bridge detours could cause confusion

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. - The closure of a major bridge in Berrien County was delayed Tuesday.

According to an MDOT spokesperson the Niles Street Bridge or the M-63 Bridge over I-94 will be open until late this week or early next week.

It was scheduled to close Tuesday, but crews are still prepping three different detours. The detours could cause confusion.

"My wife likes Panera more than I do," said Bob Kennedy stopping on I-94 Exit 27 Tuesday.

It was smooth sailing for Kennedy and his wife Veronica on their trip back to Illinois. "We like Exit 27,” he said. “We like Panera to get a soup and sandwich."

Next time it won’t be so easy to make the stop. The Kennedys will have to go miles out of their way to make the same trip. "If we can't exit to get off and on it'll be a problem."

Three different detours will be posted.

Northbound travelers on M-139 will need to avoid M-63 altogether and continue on M-139 using I-94 West to reach M-63.

Southbound travelers will be asked to use Lincoln Avenue and Glenlord Road to avoid the project.

For I-94 East travelers, Exit 23 and Red Arrow Highway will need to be used to access Saint Joseph.

"We like a straight scoop,” said Veronica Kennedy. “We don't want to be be messing around and don't want to get off on (Exit 23),” she said.

Next time they'll just avoid stopping in Saint Joseph altogether.

The bridge is scheduled to be closed for repairs until August.

 

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