MARQUETTE — M-185 on Mackinac Island has reopened to horse, bicycle and pedestrian traffic after completion of emergency repairs to address the worst areas of erosion damage on the shoreline road, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Road users are advised to travel with caution. Many damaged segments of shoreline remain, along with areas of damaged pavement and gravel surfaces. Pylons, barricades and cones have been placed to mark spots where portions of the road have been eroded. Some areas of the road are reduced to one lane. Mackinac State Historic Parks officials strongly encourage riders not to use M-185 after dark and warn riders under the influence of alcohol not to travel the road.

MDOT invested about $1.4 million in repairs of high-water and wave erosion damage to M-185. Roughly 4 miles of the highway around the island (the only state highway in Michigan that does not regularly allow automobile traffic) has sustained ongoing damage that escalated last fall and winter. This year’s project, which began June 15, repaired the most seriously damaged shoreline areas and established a gravel surface in the damaged areas of M-185. A larger reconstruction project to address remaining areas of shoreline erosion and repave M-185 is planned for 2021, with an estimated cost of $6.7 million.