Mackinac Bridge walk cancelled
Michigan officials called off the annual Labor Day walk across the Mackinac Bridge, the latest of many summer traditions in the state to be canceled because of the pandemic.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority said it determined that the walk — which typically draws tens of thousands of participants to the bridge linking Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas — posed too great a health risk.
“We can’t in good conscience continue with an event we know draws people from across our state and beyond, and puts them shoulder-to-shoulder for hours, when medical advice strenuously advises against such gatherings,” said Patrick Gleason, chairman of the panel.
The nearly 5-mile-long (8-kilometer-long) suspension bridge traverses the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. It is closed to pedestrians except on Labor Day, when people are allowed to stroll across.
The walk provides a big economic boost for Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, the tourism-oriented towns on either side of the bridge. Restaurants, souvenir shops, campgrounds and other businesses are packed on the weekend leading up to the walk, which dates to 1958, the year after the bridge opened to traffic.
The three counties in the straits area — Emmet, Cheboygan and Mackinac — have reported 46 cases of COVID-19 and three related deaths. But many walkers come from more heavily populated areas of southern Michigan, where the numbers are much higher.
Toll revenues from motorist crossings have slumped in recent months, leaving less money available to cover the $300,000 in expenses that the walk generates, said Matt McLogan, vice chairman of the bridge authority during an online meeting Wednesday.
“The walk is a wonderful tradition, which I have consistently supported. But the MBA must hold the line on expenses wherever it can now because we don’t know when or if regular traffic volumes will resume,” McLogan said. “Pausing the walk for 2020 is the responsible course of action.”
Gleason said he expects the walk to resume next year.