Lake Shore Drive closed for project

The drive from Cedar to Lake Leelanau will take a little longer through next week, and vice versa.

South Lake Shore Drive, which connects the two unincorporated villages, will be closed to all traffic just south of St. Mary Church while Road Commission crews dig out and replace a 70-foot culvert.

“That’s probably not what you wanted to hear,” said Calvin Wilson, who was leading a crew of five Road Commission workers Monday morning as they began digging up aging culvert with help from a backhoe. The ribbed metal had rusted through in spots, so it makes sense to replace the culvert ahead of a chip-and-seal project planned for this summer that will extend from Anthony St. in Lake Leelanau to the county road’s end at 651 just north of Cedar.