MDOT Layoffs Lead To Closure Of Welcome Center Restrooms

MICHIGAN — Layoffs of Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) employees resulting from the new coronavirus has prompted the closure of five state welcome center restroom facilities.

Restrooms at five Michigan Welcome Center facility restrooms — Sault Ste. Marie, Monroe, Coldwater, New Buffalo and Detroit — will be closed from Saturday, April 25, through Sunday, May 10, as the result of the layoff of MDOT employees who clean and sanitize those facilities.

During the facility closures, the ramps and parking lots will be closed as well due to security and sanitary concerns, with the exception of the Detroit Welcome Center, which has a shared parking lot. The restrooms at these Welcome Centers are currently expected to reopen on Monday, May 11.

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Restrooms at the Marquette, Ironwood, St. Ignace, Mackinaw City, Dundee, Clare and Port Huron Welcome Centers will remain open. Restroom maintenance in those facilities is provided by private contractors.

Two other Welcome Center facility restrooms had already been closed: Menominee, due to no separation between the restrooms and the information lobby, and Iron Mountain because it shares space in a closed facility.

Most of the state's other 63 rest areas remain open at this time, with the exception of five that are closed seasonally (St. Ignace, Topinabee, Hebron, Ludington and Hart) and one that is closed due to drainage issues (Chelsea). MDOT's roadside parks, which are closed seasonally, remain closed at this time.