Tunnel of Trees: M-119 reopens at Devil’s Elbow after four months, leaving one closure near Division Road that MDOT expects to last through 2027

GOOD HART — Drivers can take the Tunnel of Trees through Devil’s Elbow again. The Michigan Department of Transportation reopened that stretch of M-119 on Friday, Oct. 30, after a four-month closure caused by a June washout.

The reopening leaves one closed section on the scenic route between Harbor Springs and Cross Village: a stretch south of Division Road, where the road gave way in April. MDOT says that closure is expected to remain at least through 2027.

Heavy rain in late June washed out the sand slope below the road at Devil’s Elbow, right up to the edge of the pavement, MDOT said. The hairpin was closed from June 29 to Oct. 30, MLive reported.

How the slope was rebuilt

Crews placed and compacted about 10,000 cubic yards of sand in layers up the slope beneath the road, according to MDOT. They covered it with a geocell ground grid, a 3-D plastic mat that expands and is filled with topsoil, then seeded it with deep-rooting plants and topped it with a woven fiber mulch blanket. Steel hooks stake the material in place, and water can flow through it without pooling or washing it away.

The crew also extended a culvert under the road so runoff now drains into a new rock-lined ditch, which MDOT said should keep snowmelt and heavy rain from eating at the slope again.

The work began the week of Oct. 19. MDOT staff did it with crews from five county road commissions: Emmet, Otsego, Roscommon, Wexford and Cheboygan, the department said.

“We began this repair primarily with the goal of protecting the roadway from further erosion next spring from snowmelt and rain but have concluded that with the stabilized slope we can reopen M-119,” said Jay Gailitis, manager of MDOT’s Gaylord Transportation Service Center. “We’ll continue to monitor the repairs to make sure they are performing as intended.”

What is still closed

The remaining closure is south of Division Road, between Good Hart and Cross Village, where a culvert failed and the road washed out during a historic rain on April 13. Through traffic is detoured on Island View Road and North State Road. MDOT says it is studying the scope and feasibility of repairs “on an expedited schedule.” Closed segments stay open to local traffic, and access to homes and businesses is maintained.

It has been a hard year for the 22-mile drive. Besides Devil’s Elbow, the June storm, which dropped 5 to 7 inches of rain in a few hours, washed out M-119 near Middle Village Road, South Lamkin Road and Horseshoe Bend. Those were fixed over the summer. In April, the slope under the road near Stutsmanville Road, south of Good Hart, began to fail; MDOT shored it up with retaining walls in a $300,000 project finished just before Labor Day.

A longer look at the corridor

MDOT plans to hire a consultant for a resiliency study of the whole Tunnel of Trees corridor, looking at erosion, drainage, slope stability and soil conditions. The study is scheduled to run from November 2026 to September 2028 and will end with repair options, cost estimates and recommendations for managing the road over the long term, according to the project page.

The corridor has had other work this fall: MDOT narrowed M-119 near Petoskey to one lane for soil borings in October. Questions about the study can go to Gailitis at 989-731-5090, MDOT said.

Sources:
Michigan Department of Transportation, “Closed section of M-119 at Devil’s Elbow reopens after erosion prevention repair” (Oct. 30, 2026; repair details, road commissions, Gailitis quote, Division Road closure, earlier washouts), https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2026/10/30/closed-section-of-m-119-at-devils-elbow-reopens-after-erosion-prevention-repair
Michigan Department of Transportation, “M-119 Tunnel of Trees Resiliency Study” (closures, detours, local access, study schedule and scope, contact), https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/projects-studies/studies/m-119-tunnel-of-trees-resiliency-study
MLive, “Devil’s Elbow now open, leaving 1 closure on treasured Tunnel of Trees” (Nov. 2, 2026; June 29 to Oct. 30 closure, April 13 collapse, 22-mile route), https://www.mlive.com/environment/2026/11/devils-elbow-now-open-leaving-1-closure-on-treasured-tunnel-of-trees.html
Photo: Bobak Ha’Eri, “2009-0619-TunnelofTrees.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0619-TunnelofTrees.jpg

The Straits

Tags: M-119 · Tunnel of Trees · MDOT · Harbor Springs · Good Hart · Road closures