Grand Rapids drivers are in for a long detour season. A century-old stretch of the Martin Luther King Jr. Street bridge is shutting down next week so crews can launch a major replacement project that will close the roadway over U.S. 131 and several nearby on-ramps. The work zeroes in on roughly a 700-foot eastern section of the viaduct, originally built in the 1920s, and will pull out aging foundations and other original pieces that have been hanging on since the early days of the bridge. Commuters, cyclists and delivery drivers should expect to be routed through southeast neighborhoods while the state pushes to get the bulk of the construction finished in 2026.
What Will Close And When
The Michigan Department of Transportation says the project is set to start March 2, and is expected to wrap by mid-November 2026. Demolition work, which is weather dependent, is penciled in for the second week of April. During that window, Martin Luther King Jr. Street will be closed over US-131 and the northbound U.S. 131 on- and off-ramps will also be shut down. Southbound ramps are expected to stay open for the duration of the job, according to MDOT.
Detours For Drivers And Trucks
State transportation officials say regular vehicle traffic will be detoured to Hall Street, Division Avenue and Century Avenue, with marked alternates for northbound US-131 drivers that send them to Hall or Wealthy streets. Separate large-truck routing is mapped out to keep heavy rigs off residential corridors and limit neighborhood cut-through traffic. The project carries an estimated $30 million price tag, and the construction schedule is designed to pack the major work into a single season, as reported by FOX17.
Bicycles And Pedestrians
Nonmotorized traffic is getting its own set of workarounds. MDOT project materials lay out a bike detour that sends cyclists to Ionia Avenue, Cherry Street and Century Avenue while the bridge is closed. Pedestrians will be guided to the existing sidewalk network that ties into Hall Street about a half-mile to the south. The project page also spells out large-truck detours, includes maps and offers an email list so residents and business owners can track shifting lane closures. Full routing details and sign-ups are posted by MDOT.
Why The State Pushed Replacement
The section slated for replacement first went up in the 1920s as the Franklin Street viaduct, and some of those original structural elements are still sitting underneath layers of modern paving. Local reporting has highlighted that the eastern span carried a 2-out-of-9 condition rating, one of the lowest scores in West Michigan, which helped move this portion of the bridge to the front of the line for replacement. Those condition ratings and the construction timeline were detailed in coverage by MLive.
How Commuters Should Plan
Drivers should be ready for heavy signage, lane restrictions and some occasional night work when crews need traffic-free windows for key operations. Officials are urging people to build extra time into their trips and to follow posted detours rather than hunting for their own shortcuts. The state plans to post lane-closure updates to Mi Drive, and another public meeting is expected in mid-March to walk through final traffic plans and answer questions. Local coverage is steering commuters to state resources and the project page for maps and email alerts, according to reporting by WGVU.
