The State Park Bridge Is Gone. So How Do You Get to the East Bay Beach Now?

The green steel footbridge over US-31 at Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park came down overnight on September 20–21, 2025. It was nearly 50 years old. Since spring 2026, pedestrians have crossed the highway at street level, using a signalized crosswalk tied to the park's new traffic light. The beach entrance now lines up with that same light.

So the light is the way into the park now. It's how you get from the campground side to the East Bay beach, and it's where Three Mile Road meets the highway. Nothing on the state's books suggests that will change soon. A replacement bridge has no site and no money behind it.

Some of the official guidance hasn't caught up yet. The DNR's park overview page still tells visitors to use the pedestrian overpass to cross US-31, and it says the pet walk is reached by the bridge. The overpass is gone. If you're giving out-of-town guests directions, send them to the signal.

Two Reports From the Same Week That Seem to Disagree

The campground's early reopening got covered in late September, and two stories from the same week can read like they contradict each other. On September 22, 9&10 News reported that no decision had been made on a pedestrian connection across US-31 to replace the old bridge. Four days later, Northern Express listed "a new at-grade pedestrian crossing" among the improvements that were nearly complete.

Both are accurate. They're describing two different things. The DNR's project page sorts it out. It lists "a new at-grade, ADA-compliant pedestrian crossing across U.S. 31" among the finished enhancements, and it treats a possible new bridge as a separate matter under a section called "Pedestrian bridge update." When 9&10 says no decision has been made, it means the future bridge. The crosswalk is already built.

The crosswalk opened in steps. When the DNR announced the signal installation on March 2, 2026, it said the crosswalk would stay closed until the signal was fully working. If you tried crossing there last winter and found it fenced off, that's why. It wasn't usable until the light was.

Why the Bridge Came Down and What a New One Still Needs

The footbridge was built in response to an incident on US-31 in the 1960s. So taking it down was never a small decision. The Record-Eagle reported that hundreds of local residents, along with virtually all local elected officials, had spoken out against removing it without a replacement.

When the Ticker covered the plan in November 2024, the DNR gave four reasons for removal. The bridge was deteriorating. It didn't meet ADA requirements. It was expensive to maintain. And it blocked sightlines for the relocated entrance signal. In mid-July, roughly two months before its scheduled removal, a commercial dump truck pulling a trailer with an excavator hit the bridge. Debris fell onto a car on the highway below. No one was injured.

The case for a new bridge has kept moving since then, but slowly. Rep. Betsy Coffia said the DNR had shown her schematics for an ADA-compliant span and was working to find a new location and funding. She added, "There is more work to be done." The DNR's current update lists what has to happen first. Land for the bridge has to be identified and acquired. Funding has to be found, and the DNR says that money "does not exist within the current DNR budget." The agency says it's working on both with Coffia, Rep. John Roth and Sen. John Damoose. Unit supervisor Stephanie Rosinski told 9&10 that a traffic study is finished and has been presented to the Michigan Department of Transportation. That study only looked at State of Michigan land for the connection, and no plans have been made.

There's a study, no site and no budget line. A new bridge isn't something to plan this year's beach visits around. The crosswalk is how you'll be getting across for the foreseeable future.

The Intersection Was Rebuilt Around the Light

The new layout makes more sense once you see how much of the project went into that one intersection. Besides the $8.5 million park project, the Michigan Department of Transportation spent $1.9 million upgrading US-31 and Three Mile Road. That work added a double left-turn lane from US-31 onto Three Mile and an upgraded signal. According to 9&10, the new light lets drivers turn left when leaving the park. The dump station went from two lanes to four, with room for vehicles to line up.

Rosinski described what the park was like before the dump station was expanded:

"Before, they had to stack up into the campground, which blocked people from exiting campsites and from getting in and out of the park."

The pedestrian crossing is part of that same rebuilt intersection. Walkers and drivers now share one signal. Before, pedestrians went overhead while cars handled the highway on their own.

Arriving on Foot Costs Nothing

The Recreation Passport rule matters most for nearby residents. Michigan requires the Passport for vehicles entering or parking at a state park. People arriving on foot or by bicycle are explicitly exempt. If you walk or ride to the East Bay beach, you don't need a Passport, whatever the old crossing situation was.

The trail network comes right to the beach. The Three Mile Trail starts at the State Park beach on US-31, meets the TART at Parsons Road and runs south to just past East South Airport Road. TART Trails also lists the State Park campground among the places the 10.5-mile TART reaches.

Check one thing before you ride. TART Trails is posting a detour for the stretch between 3 Mile Road and Airport Access Road. Riders are asked to follow the non-motorized detour signs along Indian Trail Road, not the 3 Mile Road signs meant for cars. A forced sewer main project has spread into the area west of Airport Access Road, and as of the page's latest update, no trail detour had been set up there yet. Look at the TART page on the day you go.

Michigan's general state park day-use hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. I didn't find separate fall or beach-only hours posted for this park. The DNR's plan was to keep the beach open through construction, with occasional closures possible during intersection work. Short closures for remaining work are still worth checking for before you head over.

A Campground Season Nobody Expected This Year

The campground closed July 7, 2025. The DNR had said it would stay closed through the 2026 season and reopen April 1, 2027. Instead, 151 campsites open October 8, 2026, nearly six months early. The last night of camping is November 8, and the campground closes for the season November 9. Rosinski said staff learned about a month before the announcement that the park could open early.

Those 151 sites are about a third of the campground. Rosinski is asking people to reserve ahead so nobody shows up to find it full. The park won't hold its harvest festival this year and plans to bring it back in 2027. Inside the campground, little has changed. Electrical upgrades and a bathroom replacement were done during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rosinski says the middle bathroom, the park's oldest, and some underground water and sewer lines could be addressed eventually.

Visiting friends and family who stay at the campground this October and want to reach the beach will cross US-31 at the same signal as everyone else. The overpass their old park map shows isn't there anymore.

Small changes like a crossing moving to street level affect how a place gets used day to day, and they're easy to miss from a listing sheet. If you'd like to talk through how the US-31 corridor, the trail connections or any other changes near the state park figure into a home you own or are considering nearby, Michael Annelin is glad to share what he's seeing on the ground. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.