WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

 

Blue Bridge to be closed in downtown G.R. overnight on weekends

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The City of Grand Rapids is closing the Blue Bridge downtown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until further notice, after a vehicle was struck by gunfire near the bridge early Sunday morning.

The bridge will be closed from midnight to 6 a.m. on those nights. It was a joint decision between city leaders, the Grand Rapids Police Department and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. Pedestrians will still be able to cross the Grand River on the Pearl Street and Fulton Street bridges in that area.

Police Chief Eric Winstrom said they want to set the expectation early on this summer that the Blue Bridge is not a place for large crowds to congregate in the overnight hours.

"With the limited staffing that we have, if we don't address it when it's only 20 or 30 people very quickly, with the outreach that these party-goers have on social media, it becomes hundreds of individuals. And it's very difficult to address with just a few police officers," Winstrom said.

He added that it is a drain of police resources throughout the city, if 15 or 20 officers have to be sent to the scene. And it comes during a very busy call-volume time when officers are responding to 911 calls elsewhere.

Meanwhile, he says police are reviewing video footage from multiple sources related to the shooting incident.

Winstrom says six arrests have been made in conjunction with large gatherings on the bridge over the weekend.

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