Bluff Road Closed Due to Erosion Issues on the Old Mission Peninsula
Erosion issues close Bluff Road indefinitely | Jane Boursaw Photo
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If you’ve been wondering whether they’re going to close the north end of Bluff Road because of erosion issues, wonder no more. I received a call this morning from Susan Piehl, Peninsula Township office manager, that the portion of Bluff Road about a half-mile south of Boursaw Road (with the orange barrels alongside the road) is closed indefinitely.

The Grand Traverse County Road Commission released a statement this morning noting that due to shoreline erosion, the area of Bluff Road between house numbers 14772 (south end) and 14955 (north end) is closed. The road commission will be working on the road, weather permitting.

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Residents north of this area need to use Boursaw Road and Smokey Hollow Road, while residents south of this area need to use Blue Water Road or Bluff Road to the south.

Erosion Issues Force Closure of Bluff Road on the Old Mission Peninsula
Erosion issues force closure of Bluff Road on the Old Mission Peninsula; Intersection of Bluff Road and Blue Water Road | Jane Boursaw Photo

The Old Mission Peninsula has experienced its share of high water and erosion issues throughout last year, and it appears that it will continue through 2020. We first reported on this portion of Bluff Road in October 2019, noting that a tree had collapsed into East Bay on Bluff Road. The tree took most of the bank with it, causing erosion along the edge of Bluff Road.

I had come upon the scene that day right after it happened, as a couple of folks from the Grand Traverse County Road Commission were awaiting a truck to come fill in that bank – which happened that same day.

High winds caused a tree and bank to collapse into East Bay on Bluff Road on the Old Mission Peninsula
Tree and bank collapse into East Bay on Bluff Road, about a half-mile south of Boursaw Road | Jane Boursaw Photo
High winds caused a tree and bank to collapse into East Bay on Bluff Road on the Old Mission Peninsula
Tree and bank collapse into East Bay on Bluff Road, about a half-mile south of Boursaw Road | Jane Boursaw Photo

However, the bank has continued to collapse into East Bay. Here are a couple of photos from November 2019.

Erosion issues on the north end of Bluff Road; November 2019 | Jane Boursaw Photo
Erosion issues on the north end of Bluff Road; November 2019 | Jane Boursaw Photo
Erosion issues on the north end of Bluff Road; November 2019 | Jane Boursaw Photo
Erosion issues on the north end of Bluff Road; November 2019 | Jane Boursaw Photo

If you have any questions, contact Brad Kluczynski, G.T. County Road Commission Manager, (231) 922-4848, extension 215, or email [email protected].


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SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.

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