The Napier Avenue bridge over the St. Joseph River in the Benton Harbor and St. Joseph area is closed to all traffic. The Berrien County Road Department put out word Tuesday evening Napier is closed between Langley Avenue and Miami Road. It says as part of a construction project that had already been underway on the bridge Tuesday, sandblasting crews cleaning the bridge exposed the bridge supports. During that process to rehabilitate the Napier Avenue bridge, “additional deterioration was discovered. Supports were then evaluated” and the road department determined the bridge should be closed for safety’s sake until the rehabilitation project is finished. The bridge is totally closed to all traffic at this time. The road department says a temporary fix is in the works to provide access to EMS and police during remaining construction. The limited access will be subject to resource availability, weather, and the contractor. Updates will be provided to those agencies when the temporary fix is in place. Meanwhile, all other traffic will be kept off the bridge. Drivers are told to take an alternate route.
