Photo courtesy of Eric Waara A one-block road between the National Park Service Parking lot and Lake Street, in Houghton, has been closed to through-traffic due to construction of the Gateway Project. The temporary closure will not interfere with traffic on College or Shelden avenues.

HOUGHTON – The city of Houghton announced is closing a short section of East Lakeshore Drive to through traffic as condominium foundation work on the Gateway Project began. A construction fence will shift north to allow bank site work to continue.

City Manager Eric Waara said the closure is because construction crews are in the process of installing curbs for the drive-through access of the bank. Once that is completed, the safety fence in place now will be moved back to allow through traffic again. At the same time, foundation and footing construction has also begun for the condominiums that are being constructed there.

Waara said in an announcement posted on social media regarding the closure was removed, because it was confusing. The closure involves a seldom-used connection north of West College Avenue.

The section of road that is closed used to be the old Carroll Street right-of-way between the Krist station and Lake Street, he said. It connects to Lake Street, then down to the Super-8 motel.

“It used to go behind the chamber office and past the fraternity and the sorority house,” Waara said. “With the construction there, we’re shutting off access on that street for traffic safety, because we don’t want people pinching through there with the construction going on.”

The parking lot north of the construction site, located behind the former Chamber of Commerce building, will now exit onto Franklin Street only.

“That parking lot’s still gonna be there,” Waara said,” it’s just not gonna be a through-way for a period of time during the construction until they get the foundations done and whatnot.”

Waara said the closure was implemented earlier this month, but not many people were even aware of it.

“Nobody’s really missing it,” he said. “A few locals use it.”

Waara said residents of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and Alpha Sigma Tau sorority houses will still have access to their properties and parking spaces from Lake Street.

Waara said the road will remain closed throughout the closed throughout the construction season, but he does not currently have an estimated date it will be re-opened.