Mackinac Bridge Closes Due To Falling Ice

MACKINAC BRIDGE (WWJ) -- Winter weather brought traffic to a halt on the Mackinac Bridge on Saturday.

Mackinac Bridge officials temporarily stopped traffic due to reports of accumulated ice falling from the bridge. The bridge was closed from 12:30 p.m. to around 4:30 p.m.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority says warmer temperatures and increased sun loosened ice that formed on the bridge's towers and cables, causing shards to fall onto driving lanes. Officials say some of the ice fell from more than 300 feet above the road.

Bridge Authority Executive Secretary Bob Sweeney said it was pretty much a waiting game.

"There's no was to effectively get the ice off of the towers," Sweeney said. "The other thing is it isn't safe for our crews to be out there trying to get the ice off the cables. So it's something that we're monitoring very carefully."

In the past 20 years, the bridge has closed eight times for falling ice.

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