I recently came across a photograph online of a Michigan State ferry sailing alongside the nearly completed Mackinac Bridge. Did the ferry system have any staffing issues with maintaining its fleet of ferries on the Straits of Mackinac during this time as obviously there was no long term future in employment on these vessels? What happened to the crews? Were they just terminated from employment or were other positions offered to them in other state ran institutions? I would assume many of the crewmembers lived in the area on either side of the Straits. Just wondering as I have never seen any information on what took place other than Michigan's abandonment of the ferries and their sale to other owners.
Another question is why did Michigan have the Vacationland built in 1952 with the state issuing bonds that same year to build a bridge? Was this due to increase short term capacity while the bridge was built, or was it due to having no other suitable vessel (rail car ferry) available for conversion?