MDOT to begin repairs on eroding shoreline

by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor

Weather permitting, crews will start making repairs along the Lake Huron shoreline starting Monday.

Labeled by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) as a Shoreline Protection Plan, the project would cover a 800-foot portion of the U.S.-23 right of way between Rogers City and P.H. Hoeft State Park, where near-record high water levels on Lake Huron, combined with wind-driven storm surges, have caused severe erosion, undermining sections of the Huron Sunrise Trail, and threatening the roadbed of U.S.-23 itself.

MDOT is investing $289,000 to repair the shoreline slope between Lake Huron and the Huron Sunrise nonmotorized trail along U.S-23 about 3 miles north of Rogers City. 

MDOT’s repair design for the U.S.-23 project calls for heavy-duty geotextile liner on the lakeward slope, topped by 12 inches of stone underlayer, with armor stone on top of that. 

Half the armor stone will be greater than 30 inches in size, and 15 percent will be between 3 and 4 feet in size. Toe stone will anchor the base of the slope, with each toe stone having minimum dimensions of 5 feet by 4 feet by 3 feet. 

Traffic control measures specified in the bid documents do not require closure of U.S.-23 Highway during construction.

This work will require shoulder closures and a single-lane closure with traffic regulators. That section of the Huron Sunrise Trail will be closed during construction.

Although bills for the work will be passed through the Presque Isle County Road Commission for payment (and later reimbursed by the state), the project will be controlled and monitored by MDOT.