GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — No more walking the blue bridge for a while.
Renovation of the landmark Grand Valley Bridge over the Grand River is scheduled to begin Tuesday, June 4. The work will continue until about August 30.
Several months ago, citizens were asked what color paint should be used, and the favorite color was the current blue, a shade associated with Grand Valley State University. The Meijer campus sits at the west end of the bridge.
Extensive work is planned:
- Bridge closed to pedestrians
- Deck patching
- Concrete and joint repair
- Repairs to bridge approaches
- Upgrade lighting, including overhead LEDs that change color and new LED flood lights
- Clean and paint the steel
The project budget is $1.1 million.
The bridge was built as the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Bridge in 1892, according to the Grand Rapids Historical Commission. It replaced two earlier bridges, the second of which was destroyed by a log jam in 1883. Trains stopped running on it in the 1980s.
