Before Mighty Mac

What life was like before the iconic Mackinac Bridge connected Michigan’s peninsulas

By Jennifer Trudeau

It took about three years to build the Mackinac Bridge. Building began in 1954, and the completed structure was opened to the first cars on Nov. 1, 1957. Hard to imagine the Straits area without the bridge. By now it seems like a permanent feature of the landscape, visible through the trees from the highway along the shoreline, white spires against the sky. Today Upper Michigan remains largely undeveloped and unspoiled despite the ease of access, improved mobility and economic opportunities the bridge has created. The country here hasn’t changed much in many places despite growth in others, and for the most part, that’s the way resi- dents (human and otherwise) prefer it. But things are different.

The lonesome crowded north The primary effect the bridge has on its immediate environment, in a day-to-day way, is that it increases the presence of humans immediately at either of its ends, without too much effort on the part of the humans. The numbers of tourists swell when the weather heats up, and these figures increase year by year. The seasonal eruption of traffic through the Straits area flows in both directions for most of the summer months, when the region sees its greatest increase and vehicles channel into and out of the U.P. on the bridge in a steady, efficient stream.

Early visitors to the U.P. came for the same reasons they do now: sightseeing, vacation, the natural charms of the land, and pasties. From 1923 until the bridge opened, a system of ferries operated by the State of Michigan transported cars full of vacationing people between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. Aside from dangerously unpredictable ice in the winter, the ferries were the only means of getting to the U.P. from the Lower Peninsula or vice versa.

Answers for the New York Times crossword puzzle, located on Page 21.

Shuttles traversed the Straits all day, nonstop, in the busiest months (which include summer and the beginning of deer season). To meet the crushing demand as much as possible, operators abandoned their regular schedules. The chauffeured-by-ferry method possessed nicely effective limiting properties, however: The largest of eight total vessels in operation was capable of carrying up to 90 vehicles (over 600 passengers) on crossings that took about 45 minutes. Compare that to the 612,890 cars that crossed the bridge in July 2019, an all-time record. Before the bridge, if you were waiting in line during the busy season, you’d likely wait hours.

Once the bridge was built, though, volume multiplied exponentially. Increasing traffic soon demanded the construction of more roads, which required the clearing of more land, which necessitated the destruction of more wild habitats.

Lots of it.

Wildlife

Theseasonal movement and behavior patterns of the shyest large mammals indigenous to the area, like black bears and white-tailed deer, were disturbed by the construction of the bridge. Their populations were displaced, affecting behavior, habitats and migration routes.

Other effects include those to aquatic life, waterfowl, birds of prey nesting nearby and other species living or migrating along the shorelines or over the water — not to mention smaller wildlife and local plants.

And though their presence in Michigan these days is hotly debated, even outright denied, wolverines were here before the bridge, and possibly still are. Word is they’re hard to find anywhere, but who could blame them? If they’re still here, it’s because they’ve perfected the art of discretionary disappearance.

Some people think they’ve been completely dislocated by the encroaching masses, which isn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility: Wolverines like to range up to 15 miles a day. When’s the last time you could go 15 miles without running into at least one human, even in the U.P.? Also, they’re not particularly friendly, being mostly famous for a contrarian ferocity that’s led a number of Michigan sports teams to dare assume their name and wear it as a scary credential.

Clearly, wolverines don’t want to be found, which is probably why they were up here in the first place. Of course, they’ve gone into hiding.

There’s no denying the iconic Mackinac Bridge has made its mark on the U.P., in more ways than one. MM