The Leelanau County Road Commission has announced a major road closure for the fall, to allow for the first of four culvert replacements on County Road 675 in Glen Arbor. The project will necessitate the closure of CR675 (also known as South Dunns Farm Road) east of Fisher Road from September 5 until December 1. Through traffic will be rerouted around Glen Lake.

In April, the Leelanau Ticker reported that the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) was planning to replace four bridges at four different locations along Crystal River. All four crossings occur in spots where the river bisects CR675: two near the intersection of 675 and M-22, one just west of the intersection with South Westman Road, and a fourth near Tucker Lake (map pictured).

Based in Traverse City, the CRA spearheads the “River Care” program, which in recent years has been working on replacing infrastructure at river and stream crossings in order to restore waterways to their natural flow and size. At the four CR675 locations, undersized culverts are currently impeding natural fish migration patterns. The culvert replacement project will help unlock new habitat and spawning areas to more aquatic species, in turn aiding fish reproduction.

Work will begin at the first of the crossings – Crossing 4, near Tucker Lake – on September 5, with crews replacing the existing culvert “with a much wider flat bottom culvert by the end of November 2023.” Beginning September 14, crews will install “a cofferdam and stream diversion…to allow for the existing culvert removal and new culvert installation” – efforts that will “require temporary sheet piles to be installed at the onset of the project.” The project timeline also calls for the installation of large rip-rap “for stream bank stabilization” beginning on October 30, with roadbed construction, a new guardrail, paving of the new culvert, and slope restoration to follow.

Work on the other three crossings will occur at later dates.