Stakeholders who announced bridge work proposals in December to replace aging Crystal River culverts and restore the waterway’s natural flow say the first crossing could be replaced as early as this fall.

Two other crossings could be replaced in 2023, with the last one being replaced in 2024, shares DJ Shook, biologist and project manager with the Conservation Resources Alliance, one of the entities collaborating in the project. The culvert systems that currently direct water under the highway are gradually crumbling, creating a risk of sinkholes and potentially endangering drivers, aquatic life and paddlers. Brendan Mullane, chief executive of the Leelanau County Road Commission, said the causeway was not in imminent danger of collapse, “but the problem needs to be fixed now”.

Shook notes that the updated crossings will require in-stream works as well as road closures and overall will restore and improve the resilience of the Crystal River. “Project partners are working to minimize disturbance while restoring river functions that are impaired by undersized and failing stream crossings,” he says.

All four river crossings are on County Road 675.

The project will likely begin at the crossing point closest to Tucker Lake, says Brett Fessell, a river restoration ecologist with Ottawa’s Grand Traverse Band and Chippewa Indians. He notes that project partners will work with the highways commission, national park service and liveries to ensure people are routed safely. “The goal is to try to do the work during times of the year when there is less traffic on the road and on the river.”

Mullane notes that the bridge and culvert work must go through a permitting process under the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Environment (EGLE) while meeting Resource Conservation Service requirements. from USDA and other donors. Woven into timing: working with local biologists to create the least impact on the fishery.

Shook tells the Ticker Leelanau that an estimated $5 million will be required to complete the project. Fessell adds: “We are 99% complete with all technical design plans and once finalized we will put all crossovers into competition this summer.”

Entities working together to fund the project include: Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Conservation Resource Alliance, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Leelanau County Road Commission and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Local firms Grand Traverse Engineering & Construction and Gosling Czubak Engineering, along with members of the Glen Lake Association, are also consultants on the project.

Mullane and other stakeholders say this is an opportunity to work together to address issues of safety, stream connectivity and fish passage. Today’s undersized culvert systems restrict stream flow and create a barrier to fish, wildlife, and paddlers (as anyone who has unsuccessfully tried to “pull the tube” straight through the culvert can attest). in a canoe or kayak!).

A new concrete and steel structure will replace culverts under County Road 675 closest to M-22, and newly installed classic wooden bridges will leave plenty of room for paddlers. Jason Kimbrough, district ecologist with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), said that in addition to being built to NRCS standards, “wooden bridges complement the river and our northern atmosphere. Michigan”.

Ultimately, the goal is to restore a more natural flow to the Crystal River, Fessell says, noting that “the passage in place has now caused insidious destruction in the way it moves water, sediment and organisms”. Kimbrough adds: “It’s an opportunity to go back and fix those things that were put in wrong, but they’ve been there for so long that people think that’s the way it should be.”

Fessell notes that the water now gushes through the metal tubes “like a fire hose coming out the other side. This is not how a stream normally works – it’s a big man-made problem that hampers all sorts of species that use stream corridors for travel or living. This includes river creatures that must now climb and cross the road, such as otter, mink, and turtles.

He describes the reconnection of the river brought about by the new infrastructure: “Instead of pushing it through soda straws at high speed, it will be as if the road does not exist. The river can flow freely under this bridge. On the people side, we repair road infrastructure and contribute to recreational benefits. Instead of having to portage down the road, people can float across.

He adds: “The more the rivers are connected, the more resilient and healthy they can be”.

All told, things may look slightly different as the crystal finally restores its natural flow and pathways throughout the watershed. In addition, riparian areas will be replanted with native vegetation.

“We can’t answer exactly what the channel will look like for kayakers and canoeists, what we can say as the river restores a balance is to believe this is the right thing to do for the long term. , for the next seven generations.”

Fessell, who worked for Ottawa’s Grand Traverse Band and the Chippewa Indians in its natural resources department for 27 years, and in river restoration work for 20, remembers, for example, the early reactions of people at the Boardman Dam watching some of the impoundments after they were emptied. “It doesn’t take long for mother nature to heal herself. We can think of the river as what we can get from it, whether we make energy from it, whether we use it for fishing, whether we use it for recreation or generally wonder how we can use it to our advantage. It is the opposite in the tribal culture. It is as if this river were a relative – your grandmother or a child. Instead of thinking ‘What can I get out of this relationship?’ I welcome, I love and I take care of myself because I know it is reciprocal.

Shook adds that the community will play an ongoing role in the success of the restoration of the waterway once the Crystal River project is implemented, as they “continue to take care of the river and the watershed. With how often Crystal River is used each year, the community does a great job of keeping it clean and healthy.

Photos of Michael Brennan, @michaeljbrennan