Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A closed-off section of trail is seen along the Department of Natural Resources’ motorized trail from Dollar Bay to Lake Linden.

LAKE LINDEN — Engineering work is about 90% complete for this year’s repair work on the Department of Natural Resources’s motorized Lake Linden trails, the DNR’s Upper Peninsula trails coordinator said.

This year’s projects will be bid out in six sections to make the work more manageable, Ron Yesney said.

“If we were to bid it in one package, there are only a couple contractors in the U.P. big enough to take it on,” he said in an email.

Bidding is hoped to be done in the spring or summer. Construction is expected to be done this fall. Some work will likely extend into 2023, Yesney said.

Yesney also said he appreciates the community’s patience.

“Because of the enormity and complexity of rebuilding the trail — there are 168 major culverts that need to be replaced or removed — it is difficult to move things along as fast as we’d like,” he said. “However, we’re very grateful for the legislative and community support that we’ve received, and we’re positioned to get as much work done as possible this summer.”

Yesney thanked State Sen. Ed McBroom and State Rep. Greg Markkanen for helping to secure $4.2 million in the most recent budget for repairs to damage remaining from the Father’s Day Flood.

“With this funding and some additional federal funding, we will be able to start construction soon,” he said.

Some permitting issues remain. In addition to the general fund money, the DNR is using money from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which requires a historical structures review. The National Historic Preservation Act review is underway with a contractor, and is expected to be finished by the end of April, Yesney said.

One of the bid packets, which will include work impacting the Portage Canal, requires a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is also requiring additional permitting, Yesney said.

“Some of these permits require additional easements because the culverts that the engineering firm and EGLE are requiring are longer than the previous culverts and require permissions from adjacent landowners,” he said. “So, we’re working on getting construction easements from the adjacent landowners.”