Bridge Shutdown Prompts Groundbreaking Growth Study

Barely a month after authorities suspended their controversial proposal to build a new bridge across the scenic Boardman River valley just south of Traverse City, the project’s leading supporters and opponents are organizing a comprehensive land use and transportation study to respond to the region’s accelerating growth. Business, government, and environmental leaders long at odds over the bridge say their novel alliance hopes to develop a citizen-based plan that relieves severe traffic congestion in the Grand Traverse area, which is among the Midwest’s most rapidly growing regions, and protects the beauty that attracts so many people.