The Latest on the Traverse City State Park Construction

Updates on track, park to fully reopen in 2027

For tourists and locals alike, the construction at the Traverse City State Park has been a big change. Normally at this time of year, its parking lots and campsites are packed with cars and campers as folks from downstate (and further away) head up north to experience the great outdoors during the best season, summer.

This year, though, the Keith J. Charters Traverse City State Park is closed in order to facilitate major updates that will improve the park for both campers and staff. There’s good news for those hoping to pack up their trailer, though: updates are on track, and the park is still expected to reopen on April 1, 2027.

Beach Access Remains Open for Summer

In early June, construction was completed to redesign the Three Mile intersection and widen the roadway. A new traffic signal was added at the relocated U.S. 31 campground entrance, and MDOT installed a new double left-turn lane from U.S. 31 to Three Mile Road. These updates should improve visitor safety and decrease vehicle backups.

“Everything is going well and I’m super excited to see all the changes that are happening,” says Stephanie Rosinski, Traverse City and Leelanau state parks supervisor.

Importantly, Rosinski offered a reminder that the ongoing construction doesn’t mean beachgoers need to alter their plans.

“The campground is still closed, but our beach area will be open,” she says. “People may be a little surprised. The entrance is now lined up with Three Mile Road, and you will be able to exit and enter with the light, which is a really good thing.”

She says the park expects to have high use at the beach area like they normally do, adding that “the traffic light will help, and the entrance is done.”

There will no longer be a fee booth to enter; instead, visitors will be able to pay for parking through a fee pipe or purchase a Michigan State Park Recreation Pass online.

Current Project Focus Areas

With the roadwork largely complete, the park turns to its next steps. Rosinski says many of the improvements that are part of the project will improve safety and accessibility for park visitors, while other major projects will streamline the experience for guests and staff, improving access and traffic flow.

“The next thing that will be really noticeable to people driving by is paving of all the roads in the campground,” says Rosinski, noting that Elmer’s is scheduled to pave the campground side.

“The contact station will be finished really soon as well,” she adds. “The wooden bridge over Mitchell Creek has been done for a long time.”

From there, a lot will be going on behind the scenes…or at least behind the new fencing installed around the campground.

“People aren’t necessarily going to see what’s happening, but the main thing that’s happening now is going to be our headquarters,” Rosinski explains.

A major part of the project’s plan involves relocating the headquarters building—where state park staff work—to a new site.

“Headquarters has a lot of stuff happening,” Rosinski says. “We were there Thursday pouring cement floors… the garage doors have to go in, heating and cooling, working on windows. We don’t even have the walls up yet—we have the studs for the walls—so there’s a long ways to go on that building.”

Rosinski tells us that the park staff had long outgrown its old headquarters building. “For our employees, having a headquarters that we will be able to fit in is really exciting. We also relocated it, so it’s no longer the first thing you see when you come in; it’s set off back and you won’t see our vehicles.”

Rosinski is also super excited about the new sanitation station, which should streamline and improve the sanitation process at the park.

“Our dump station was way undersized for the amount of campsites we had,” she says. “When people were leaving on Sundays or coming on Friday nights, it got really backed up. With this new dump station we will have four lanes instead of two with lots of stacking room. Campers are going to be super excited about that.”

What About the Bridge?

The aging pedestrian bridge that allowed people to cross over the highway from the campground to the bridge was removed as it no longer met American with Disability Act standards. The DNR is funding a study to explore the prospect of a new pedestrian bridge, separate from the current enhancements.

“We are working with a consulting firm to do a feasibility study to see if a bridge or a tunnel would work anywhere on the state park property,” Rosinski says. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that it is going to touch both sides of the road on state park property; we don’t know that yet! We’ve only had two meetings so far, but are looking at whether a bridge or tunnel will work anywhere.”

A new pedestrian bridge would also require additional funding, as it is not provided for in the current DNR budget.

In the meantime, Rosinski is excited for the enhancements and improvements that will allow another version of safe passage to the water for all visitors. “The thing that I’m most excited about is the traffic light that’s going to allow safe ingress and egress for campers and visitors alike to the campground and beach areas.

“I’m also excited about the ADA crossing,” Rosinski adds. “We do have a track chair at TC State Park. People can call us up, pick it up in the campground, and then go across the street and right into the water and down into the sand.”

Follow along with the renovation at michigan.gov/recsearch/parks/traversecity. Photo courtesy of the DNR.

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