Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A portion of southbound US-23 will be closed for bridge demolition starting tomorrow.

MDOT will close southbound US-23 from North Territorial to Barton Drive for partial overpass demolition in Ann Arbor. The work follows a high-load strike to the Joy Road Bridge in June that caused extensive damage.

The closure starts at 8pm Friday and will be in effect through 5am Saturday.

MDOT advises that traffic will exit at North Territorial Road and be detoured via Whitmore Lake Road, Barton Drive, and eastbound M-14 back to southbound US-23.

The crash involved a 2023 International semi-truck being driven by a 51-year-old man from Mississippi. The truck was traveling southbound on US-23 hauling a backhoe on a flatbed trailer when the boom of the backhoe struck the Joy Road bridge. There were no injuries. The driver was issued a traffic citation for causing/allowing a vehicle to be operated over height.