Dredging Completed at Union Bay Boat Ramp

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced that the parking lot and ramp at the Union Bay boating access site at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park will reopen Friday, July 1.

The access site and lot had been closed since October for boating access replacement work.

Among the improvements with the new access site, the ramp was widened and mechanical dredging of rocks from the launch out to deep water has created easier access at the site.

Parking was expanded and the approach grade and ramp angle was redesigned. The launch is now a double-wide launch with one skid pier, but with the ability to launch on either side.

“This has been a fantastic project that is going to give better access to one of Michigan’s great fisheries on Lake Superior in Union Bay,” said Jeff Gaertner, unit manager at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness and Lake Gogebic state parks.

The $569,000 project was funded with $260,000 from the 2013 Emergency Dredging Program and $309,000 in Waterways Capital Outlay money.

OHM Advisors (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc.) of Hancock served as consultants and worked on designing the project. MJO Contracting Inc. of Hancock constructed the new launch site.