The Mackinac Bridge is an important link in Michigan’s transportation network. The road connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas and carries Interstate 75 across the Straits of Mackinac.
It is also located in an area that is highly susceptible to weather damage. So, what happens when the bridge closes?
Drivers face this situation several times a year, especially during the winter. In rough winter storms churned up by the inland seas known as the Great Lakes, the straits can experience intense winds and blizzard conditions.
Drivers faced a closed Mackinac Bridge on a winter night in January 2025, as one Michigander lamented on social media.
The bridge is closed and we’re stuck on the wrong side. Hotels are all booked up…this is gonna be a long night.
Consider that, while you may have seen the Mackinac Bridge as a tourist, there are those who live in the Straits area and beyond in the Northern Lower and Eastern Upper Peninsulas and use the bridge on a regular basis to commute.
Unlike you, who can find an alternate route if a highway you use is closed, there is no alternative route across the Straits. You are stuck.
What does that mean as nightfall approaches? It would most likely be a costly hotel room in Mackinaw City or St. Ignace, depending on which side of the bridge you are on. Or sitting idle in your car as traffic on I-75 builds.
Where to Go And Stay When the Mackinac Bridge Closes
Beyond the hotels in the Straits area, savvy travelers suggest that churches and schools in the region have opened as warming shelters in the event that the bridge is expected to be closed for an extended period of time.
Commenters on social media offered sage advice:
Been there, done that. Spent the night in the Odawa Casino parking lot so I had a bathroom. What fun!
Why i carry sleeping bag in my truck at all times. With the bridge you just never know
