The U.S. Coast Guard was set to open more waterways in the Straits of Mackinac over the weekend.
According to an announcement from Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes, the South Channel was set to open on Sunday, April 19. This is a commercial shipping lane located north of Cheboygan and south of Bois Blanc Island.
Grays Reef Passage was set to open on Saturday, April 18. This serves as a federal navigation channel in northeastern Lake Michigan between Grays Reef and Vienna Shoal.
Coast Guard officials added that all recreational ice users should plan their activity carefully, use caution on the ice, and stay away from shipping channels, as ice-breaking activity weakens the ice far beyond the tracks created by icebreakers.
