The Berrien County Road Department is reviewing its options after getting word that a bridge along the New Buffalo Township and Three Oaks Township line has failed a state inspection.
That word came Thursday from the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. Road department communications coordinator Adri Boone tells us the Lakeside Road bridge over the Galien River remains open and was just inspected by the Michigan Department of Transportation, which found it in poor condition.
“We are actually requesting to have further inspection and further data take place before we make a determined action,” Boone said. “This is on a road that’s actually a seasonal road. So in winter, we actually do not maintain this stretch of road. So it’s not going to impact the traveling public in a great aspect right now.”
Lakeside is a dirt road between US-12 and where Forrest Lawn Road and Maudlin Road meet. Boone says there are no homes near the bridge in question, and the road primarily exists to allow farmers access to their fields. That’s why it doesn’t get plowed in the winter.
The bridge remains open with a continued 14-ton weight restriction while the Berrien County Road Department considers its next steps.
