New Road to Iron Industry Museum

It’s now a lot easier to get to an area museum.

And it should help the museum stay open year-round.

The Michigan Iron Industry Museum has never had direct access from US-41 until now.

But it now has that with Jackson Trace Parkway.

Museum staff, elected officials and others from the community got together at the museum this morning.

They held a ribbon-cutting for both the road and a new parking lot.

Ishpeming State Senator Mike Prusi says construction began last October, but the funding process has been in the works for years.

This is the first time funding from the Michigan Institutional Roads Program has been used for a state museum.

Andy Sikkema of the Ishpeming MDOT field office says that funding came from the state gas tax.

200 people from the area also donated to the project to help make it happen.