More than 100 plan to attend Wednesday’s road commission meeting.

Meeting attendees crammed into the office area of the Oceana County Road Commission building, because the meeting room was full to capacity, Sept. 11.

More than 100 plan to attend Wednesday’s road commission meeting.

#LongbridgeRoadClosure

HART – Open Longbridge Road Now!!!, a citizen coalition formed to pressure the Oceana County Road Commission (OCRC) to reopen Longbridge Road in Pentwater Township, announced that its members will turn out in force at the next OCRC meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 25.

The coalition to try again to get the OCRC to reopen Longbridge Road, which has been closed since May 1. Approximately 70 people attended the last OCRC meeting, Sept. 11.

Longbridge Road, which crosses Pentwater Lake at the Pentwater River oulet, has been closed for nearly five months due to flooding caused by the high water level and heavy rains last spring.

– Oceana County Road Commission photo

“There is absolutely no good reason to continue to put the people of Pentwater Township at risk,” said Mark Trierweiler, president of the coalition. “Our emergency response times have literally doubled since Longbridge Road was closed.”

More than 100 people have committed to attending Wednesday’s meeting.

“Residents from the across Oceana County plan to speak on behalf of immediately opening the road and ending the nightmare for the people of Pentwater Township, most of whom have suffered since Longbridge Road was closed,” states a press release from the organization. “Complaints have included delayed emergency-response times, increased costs, long rides for school children, loss of business for Pentwater Village businesses, and loss of security for residents.

“Those interested in joining the coalition should fax or email their name, address, telephone and email address to 517-899-6330 or to mark.trierweiler@gmail.com. Members can expect to receive information on why Longbridge Road must be opened now, as well as ways to make Oceana County government more responsive to residents’ concerns. Names of coalition members will be kept strictly confidential.

“For more information on the Longbridge Road closure, go to Facebook and type Longbridge LEARN in the search box.”