This City is Divided by Bridges It Can't Afford

Bridges in Bay City are not isolated pieces of steel. They are economic arteries.

What the city operates today is a hybrid system layered on the mid-sized river town. Two bridges are city-owned but privately operated and tolled. Two are state-owned and free. One is in the midst of a full replacement, another is in maintenance mode. There’s a federal grant and a state reimbursement fight.

There are no recreational boats idling below the bascule gates. No steady freighter traffic forcing lifts during rush hour. The bridges stay down for weeks at a time, frozen in place like they’re finally allowed to rest. But politically and financially, the bridges are still up in the air.

The largest project in the city is the full replacement of the Lafayette Avenue Bridge, the state-owned span that carries M-13 and M-84 across the Saginaw River. The Michigan Department of Transportation is overseeing the roughly $112 million demolition and rebuild that began in December 2024 and is expected to run through summer 2027.

The project will replace the aging structure with a modern bridge featuring an 8-foot shared-use path.

The federal government previously awarded $74 million to the project through the Bridge Investment Program. The cranes rising over the river are part of a fully funded state construction schedule.

Despite rumors that the project could stall, Bay City Mayor Christopher Girard was clear in an interview with Enjoyer that construction has not stopped.

“No, no,” he said. “It’s all related to reimbursement, nothing to do with the actual project.”

The controversy instead centers on roughly $1.6 million—closer to $2 million, according to city officials—tied to the city’s required local match for the state project.

Under Michigan’s funding structure, even when the state receives large federal grants, municipalities must contribute a portion of the cost if the project runs through their jurisdiction.

Bay City’s share for Lafayette was factored into its budget with the expectation that reimbursement dollars appropriated by the state would return to the city.

That reimbursement became entangled in broader budget disputes in Lansing and was later affected by a Michigan Court of Claims injunction restricting the release of certain funds until legal questions were answered.

The result is a strange duality: Construction continues on schedule, but the city’s expected reimbursement remains uncertain.

“For a city our size,” the mayor said, “if that money doesn’t come back, that’s $1.6 million less in roads that get done locally.”

In practical terms, that means fewer resurfaced streets next construction season. The money had already been allocated toward road improvements. Without it, officials say, next year’s street work will shrink.

Bay City has invested roughly $72 million in road work in recent years, according to Girard. He estimates it would take more than $600 million to bring the city’s roads into solid condition. That estimate reflects the cost of addressing widespread deferred maintenance, where many streets now require full reconstruction rather than routine resurfacing.

The median household income in Bay City is around $50,000 annually. About a fifth of its residents live in poverty. Large-scale infrastructure self-financing simply isn’t realistic.

“We need outside dollars as much as possible,” the mayor said. “We need to make sure the interests of our region are being met.”

Girard also questioned the fairness of the reimbursement structure. With the state receiving $74 million in federal funds toward the Lafayette project, he argued relieving the city’s burden was reasonable.

“Why should the city then have its burden if the state’s burden is being alleviated to a large extent?” he said.

The funds were briefly removed from the state budget before being reintroduced in the House. For residents, the dispute is not procedural. It feels like potholes that will not get filled.

Across town, Liberty and Independence represent a different chapter in Bay City’s bridge story.

In 2022, the city entered into a long-term lease agreement with Bay City Bridge Partners, a subsidiary of United Bridge Partners.

Under that arrangement, the private operator assumed responsibility for rehabilitation and long-term maintenance in exchange for tolling authority.

Supporters argued the city could not afford the escalating costs of maintaining aging movable spans without outside capital. Critics argued the deal privatized essential infrastructure and imposed daily tolls on residents who simply need to cross town.

The lawsuits that followed did not undo the agreement but exposed deep divisions within the community.

Today, Liberty and Independence operate under toll gantries. Drivers maintain accounts, use transponders, or pay by plate.

That leaves the Veterans Memorial bridge. There is no lease agreement attached to it. No toll gantries overhead. No reimbursement controversy over its funding.

With Lafayette under construction, and Liberty and Independence tolled, Veterans has quietly become the only consistent free crossing in town. In winter, without boat traffic requiring frequent lifts, it remains level and predictable.

Traffic has shifted. Drivers choose Veterans. What once felt like just another option is now absorbing the overflow from political and financial changes elsewhere. For residents and businesses on Middle Ground, the Lafayette closure carries real economic consequences.

“I’ve talked to those businesses,” Girard said. “The longer it’s drawn out, the harder it is.”

Marketing can offset some of the disruption. It cannot replace convenience. The current timeline stretches through 2027. Detours alter habits, and habits, once altered, are not quick to return.

The mayor suggested that prolonged state construction projects should trigger assistance mechanisms for impacted businesses—a policy change that would require more money from Lansing.

That raises a broader question: When state projects disrupt local commerce, should the state also be responsible for offsetting those losses?

Given that for more than 400 days, the region has lacked representation in the state senate, leaving residents without a direct voice in Lansing, the argument for state support becomes stronger.

When legislative disputes and injunctions affect everyday transportation, even a modest reimbursement is significant.

The Saginaw River built Bay City. Movable bridges made that growth possible. But movable bridges are expensive to maintain. Steel corrodes. Mechanical systems age. Safety standards evolve. The bills come due.

Every morning, cars still line up on approach ramps. They climb steel. They crest the river. They descend into the other half of the city.

In Bay City, you don’t avoid the bridges. You live with them. And right now, more often than not, you’re stuck living with the free one.