COTC - 4 Mar 2026 - TC State Park and Beach changes

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Good morning, Northern Michigan. This is your cup

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of Traverse City for

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the 03/04/2026.

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I'm Mike, and I've got my coffee in

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hand.

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So now it begins,

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the

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construction

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season, but, specifically,

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all around

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the Traverse City State Park.

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The new traffic signal that's gonna be at

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the new entrance

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of the state park, roughly where the bridge

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used to be, the overpass

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crosswalk, whatever you wanna call it, pedestrian bridge.

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Right around that area is where the new

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main entrance to the state park

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is going to be and, crews,

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are going to start

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probably next week,

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putting up the traffic signal that's gonna go

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there. The traffic signal is gonna be there,

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you know, in blink mode probably for

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a few

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weeks, and then it'll go into full operation.

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So, yeah, there'll be yet another stop

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between three and four mile road

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there on

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on the,

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on 31 on the main highway.

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Of course, those of you that don't live

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around here, we don't have freeways around here.

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So

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four lane

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four lane and two lane highways are kind

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of the the norm around here with traffic

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signals and circles and you know what. But,

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of course, those of us that live around

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here know all about all of that. Of

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Of course, the bridge was controversial,

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that they wanted to take it out. Apparently,

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they are now planning on building a new

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one at some point,

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because

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crossing the the road there at the surface,

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to get over to the beach side of

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the park

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is, dangerous. That's why they built that bridge

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in the first place.

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I wanna say in the sixties or maybe

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even the fifties. I I guess I don't

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know the the history of that that pedestrian

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bridge.

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But, anyway, so expect,

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you know, some

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traffic delays

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along there while they're installing this thing.

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They're gonna have lane closures and the sidewalk.

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This will be

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disrupted somewhat.

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So be, be be extra careful,

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traveling through

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that stretch between three and four mile road.

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Also, a little later this year, they're gonna

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start moving the beach entrance.

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Right now, it's

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slightly to the west of where three mile

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and 31

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cross. They're gonna move that to align with

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US 31

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at three mile,

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or align with three mile at US 31.

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So there'll be just that one intersection and,

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you'll be able to go straight into the

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State Park Beach

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or, turn left or right on 31

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off of 3 Mile. And the reason that's

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of interest to me, I'm not that far

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away from there.

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So that that one will be a pain

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when they're working on it. Of course, at

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that same intersection, they're putting in a giant,

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Hilton hotel.

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That hasn't started yet either, but, where the,

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A A A building

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was

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is, it is right now, but, will be

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a was,

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soon when they tear it down right across

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from the bear store there,

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at the corner of 31 and and,

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3 Mile.

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Of course, those of us who've lived around

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here a long time remember that there was

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a gas station, a total station, I think,

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right there, where the bear store was.

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But, anyway, they're gonna line all that up

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so that

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getting to the beach is gonna be a

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little easier because it'll be a a good

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traffic light there.

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And, of course, there's gonna be that other

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traffic light at the entrance to the state

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park, which I guess makes sense. You know,

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trying to turn in there with a camper

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was always a problem.

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If you're coming from the North,

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you'd have to get in that left turn

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lane and, might take a while to, get

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across. So I guess having a light there

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makes sense.

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I'm

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not thrilled with that idea because I go

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that way a lot. You know, between where

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I live and, where Myers is out in

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Acme,

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where I tend to shop, I gotta go

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up that way. And, having yet another traffic

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light

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might not be all that convenient, but maybe

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they'll time it right.

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That would be

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ideal, but, yeah, you never know.

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But, lots lots of stuff going on around

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the state park. They, they tore down that

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house.

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They called it the lodge, but that house

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that was in the corner there up by

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the highway

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and built,

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I don't know what you call it, but

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a building there where,

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where you check-in and all that. And it's,

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it looks quite nice from what I can

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see.

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And they made the entrance

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longer

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so that, you know, when there's campers stacked

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up there,

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you know, I'm talking camp trailers and stuff

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not people in tents, but you know there'll

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be cars stacked up, you know, there when

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when they're busy for checking in, but it

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looks like there'll be plenty of room.

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A lot of the work that they're doing

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is

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is because the

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sewage system at in the park,

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needed an upgrade, so they had to tear

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up a bunch of stuff, and they're working

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on it. State Park will reopen April

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2027,

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so it'll be closed this entire

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summer.

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That's not ideal, I guess, but,

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hey, you know, gotta make some progress. They

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they did a similar thing out in Interlochen

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closed it it for a year.

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And,

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Interlochen

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State Park is very, very nice. So,

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hopefully, they'll do the same with the Traverse

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City Park and and, I look forward to

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it.

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So let's check the weather before we get

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out of here on this beautiful Wednesday. The

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sun is up. I like it.

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It's,

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looks like 30 degrees already, which is, you

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know, for eight in the morning isn't too

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bad. So today, sunny high near 53.

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I like to see that five in there.

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A lot of the snow is going to

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go away, I hope.

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Calm wind becoming

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south around five miles per hour. Today, partly

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cloudy

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with a low around twenty eight, calm wind.

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And tomorrow, a chance of freezing rain before

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9AM. Oh, that morning commute might be fun

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for some people that have to commute.

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I commute 30 feet out my back door.

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I'm lucky that way.

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And,

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chance of rain and snow showers,

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between nine and ten. Well, they're being specific

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for tomorrow.

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And then a chance of rain showers after

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10AM.

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Mostly sunny with a high near 46.

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So, well, that's gonna kinda blow out of

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here at some point,

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and that's good. East wind.

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East wind. That's weird.

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Five to 10 miles per hour. Chance of

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precipitation is 30%.

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So, yeah, might get a little slap tomorrow

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morning.

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Be careful on the commute, and I will

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catch you tomorrow.