This will be done by replacing a culvert with a 45-foot-wide, free-flowing channel and constructing a new culvert on the lake's opposite end. A bridge for motorists will be built over the channel.

Traffic disruptions include:

Temporary closure of the Nashua Trail canal crossing near Woodside Drive starting this week.

Traffic is being redirected from The Strand to Woodside Drive beginning this winter.

Upon completion of construction on The Strand, work will begin on Woodside Drive.

Shelby Township-based Z Contractors Inc. is taking the lead on construction, with design being handled by Detroit-based firms SmithGroupJJR and Wade Trim Inc.

The project is being paid for through federal funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with a $70,000 match by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Lovall said the project is similar to the one in 2014 that put Belle Isle's Blue Heron Lagoon online, also funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He said the latest project has been in the works for two years and that it could not happen without federal funding.

"It's great for the economy here in Michigan," he said. "We have a multimillion dollar fishing industry in the Great Lakes … attracting people from around the world."