Westbound I-696 roadwork to close lanes for more than a week in May
Additional lanes — and later, an entire section — of Interstate 696 are set to close next week, eventually requiring a detour, the Michigan Department of Transportation announced.
Beginning at 7 a.m. April 21 through late July, work on the median of westbound I-696, from Southfield to Lahser roads will temporarily narrow to just two lanes, which could lead to traffic delays.
Then, next month, starting at 9 p.m. May 9 and running for more than a week until 5 a.m. May 19, westbound I-696 will be closed from I-75 to M-10 so work crews can demolish the Church Street plaza bridge.
"We are moving dirt and fixing the damn roads to grow our economy," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said this week of the state's road improvements, adding the efforts help "Michiganders go to work, drop their kids off at school and run errands safely."
Workers will take down 170 concrete beams.
For that, westbound I-696 traffic is set to be rerouted to southbound I-75, westbound M-8 (Davison Highway) and northbound M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to get back onto westbound I-696.
There also will be a local westbound lane with access to Bermuda Street, M-1 (Woodward Avenue) and Coolidge Highway.
One of Whitmer's campaign slogans when she ran in 2018 was "Fix the damn roads." Since then, she has sought to live up to it, including offering a $3 billion plan earlier this year that includes funds to help local communities fix local roads.
As part of Michigan's ongoing roadway construction project, MDOT said, 60 bridges are being repaired, including the rebuilding of the Church Street Plaza bridge that includes Victoria Park.
More: Michigan road funding efforts have stalled before. Can new plans break the traffic jam?
A walkway detour will be in place during the construction.
The eastbound side of the Church Street plaza bridge is set to be demolished beginning May 1 for approximately 10 days that will only affect the eastbound side of the freeway, which is already closed.
Next year, westbound I-696 will be rebuilt from I-75 to Lahser Road; and the last phase of the Restore the Reuther project will rebuild I-696 in 2025-2026, and in 2027, I-696 will have major road work done between I-75 and Dequindre Road.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: I-696 roadwork to close WB lanes for more than a week in May
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