Anne SnabesThe Detroit News
Construction workers are set to extract most of the surface of Southfield Road from 11 Mile to 12 Mile in Lathrup Village and Southfield, repair the road's base and pave two new layers of asphalt.
In Macomb County, crews will rebuild Kelly Road between 14 Mile and 15 Mile in Fraser.
And in the Dearborn area, the Michigan Department of Transportation is resurfacing a section of Southfield Freeway in Wayne County.
These are just a few of the many road projects that are taking place this year in Metro Detroit. From Clinton Township to Commerce Township, more than 100 road projects are planned across Metro Detroit, and road officials urge patience.
Construction season has traditionally started in late March or early April, but over the last few years, the Michigan Department of Transportation has been working on many major projects earlier as winters have been milder, so the season has started in the late winter, said MDOT spokesperson Diane Cross.
Still, summer is prime time for construction, meaning drivers should be prepared for orange barrels, delays and detours.
"We understand that road construction is disruptive, but unfortunately, there's no way to rebuild, repave or reconstruct a road without disrupting traffic," said Craig Bryson, senior communications manager for the Road Commission for Oakland County.
The Macomb Department of Roads has more than 50 projects planned, ranging from road reconstruction to non-motorized pathway projects, said department spokesperson Eric Dimoff. Projects will top more than $100 million. Two examples include reconstructing Garfield Road between 14 Mile and 15 Mile in Fraser and extending Garfield in Macomb Township to 25 Mile.
By contrast, the Road Commission for Oakland County has 57 major road construction projects planned for this year, which will cost nearly $84 million. The agency is reconstructing Brown, Giddings and Silverbell roads from Jamm Road to M-24 in Orion Township and Auburn Hills.
Bryson asked motorists to slow down and stay alert in construction zones. The agency appreciates "the public's patience," he said.
Several major projects are progressing on Metro Detroit's freeways as well. The approximately $269 million Interstate 96 Flex Route project between Kent Lake Road and Interstate 275 in Oakland County is in its final year.
More: 3-year 'Flex Route Project' to begin Monday on I-96 in Oakland County
The project, once completed, will allow motorists to drive on the inside shoulder of eastbound I-96 for a few hours in the morning and the inside shoulder of westbound I-96 for a few hours in the afternoon, which are peak times.
MDOT is widening the inside shoulders of I-96 and making them stronger, so they can handle the weight of the extra traffic. Cross said the project, going in along a stretch of the freewaythat sees an average of 88,000 cars a day, will help with congestion.
"The only time 96 is bad is in the morning on the eastbound side, and in the afternoon, the westbound side ― that's when we have the heaviest traffic, the biggest delays, the most crashes," she said.
Below are 14 of the biggest projects this year in Metro Detroit.
Macomb County roads
More than $100 million in infrastructure projects are planned in Macomb County.
Garfield Road will see an extension in one area and reconstruction in another. In the $9 million extension, workers will construct a new road and make other improvements between 23 Mile and 25 Mile. This project will “enhance safety, improve traffic flow, and ease congestion throughout the corridor,” a department news release said.
"That will be definitely a much-needed north-south thoroughfare," said Bryan Santo, the director of Macomb County's Department of Roads.
This is the second phase of the extension project; the first involved extending Garfield from 22 Mile to 23 Mile.
Another portion of Garfield between 14 Mile and 15 Mile in Fraser will be reconstructed, which means the road will be fully rebuilt. In this $5.5 million project, the road will be widened to three lanes, providing for a center left turn lane and deceleration lanes.
Macomb County Department of Roads is also working on two projects on Kelly Road. In one, which costs more than $5.5 million,the road will be reconstructed between 14 Mile and 15 Mile, which is a carryover from the 2023 construction season. In the other project, which costs nearly $1.6 million, Kelly will be rehabilitated between 15 Mile and South Nunneley Road.
The county plans to complete the $220 million Innovate Mound project this year as well. It has already reconstructed the road from Interstate 696 to M-59, but this year, it is replacing the Bear Creek culvert, constructing an 8-foot-wide path between 15 Mile and 18 Mile and doing landscaping work, among other steps. This year's work costs $30 million.
The Michigan Department of Transportation also is resurfacing M-53, or Van Dyke Freeway, between 18 Mile in Sterling Heights and M-59, or Hall Road, in Utica and repairing bridges along the corridor in an about $16.5 million project.
M-53 southbound between Hall and 18 Mile has been closed since March and will reopen in June. M-53 northbound will close at that time and re-open at the end of fall.
Oakland County roadways
Of the $84 million in major projects that the Road Commission for Oakland County is planning, one of the most prominent is the reconstruction of Brown, Giddings and Silverbell roads. This $15 million project, which stretches from Jamm Road to M-24, will be completed this year. The roads are in the vicinity of General Motors Co.'s Orion Assembly plant, the former Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle plant being revamped to start producing electric trucks in late 2025.
"One of the issues they had had in the past was that the roads were in such bad shape that General Motors was objecting to bringing their trucks with new vehicles out of the plant on the rough roads there," said Bryson, the road commission's senior communications manager. "We get that. We didn't want them to damage new vehicles."
The commission is also doing a $5.3 million major resurfacing of Southfield Road from 11 Mile to 12 Mile in Lathrup Village and Southfield. Bryson said "major resurfacing" means the agency will remove most of the existing road surface and repair the base. It's more in-depth than a simple resurfacing project.
The agency is also conducting a $5.5 million major resurfacing of Walton Boulevard from Adams Road to Livernois Road in Rochester Hills.
Meanwhile, the $269 million I-96 Flex Route project, which stretches from Kent Lake Road to I-275, is in its last year. All of the traffic has been shifted to the eastbound side of I-96, which has already been rebuilt.
The result of the flex route project is that motorists will be able to use a shoulder as a lane during peak hours. MDOT is doing this instead of adding another permanent lane, which has downsides, according to Cross.
"If you make the shoulder a lane, now you gotta buy more property and build a shoulder, and there's a lot of environmental issues in that, in the sense of there's a lot of wetlands in that area," she said.
MDOT also is in the third year of a $275 million, four-year project to reconstruct I-696 from I-275 to Lahser Road. Traffic has shifted to the eastbound side of I-696 while the agency rebuilds the westbound side.
Wayne County roads
The Michigan Department of Transportation is conducting numerous projects in Wayne County. In a $15.5 million project, it's milling and resurfacing M-39 (Southfield Freeway) from just south of I-94 to Ford Road. The freeway is down to two lanes in each direction, but most weekends this summer, it will be down to one lane.
Cross said the project "has a big impact to the Dearborn area, and we fully acknowledge that."
The agency is also in the first year of a three-year, $139 million project to reconstruct M-14/I-96 between Sheldon Road in Plymouth and Newburgh Road in Livonia. This year, MDOT will mainly do bridge work and widen the shoulders on M-14 so that traffic can be moved onto the shoulders during the next two years.
The agency also is working on a $18.5 million project to replace two bridges and improve four bridges on U.S. 24 (Telegraph Road) from the U.S. 24/I-75 connector to Mercier Avenue, north of Eureka Road, in Taylor. The agency has also closed the northbound direction of the U.S. 24/I-75 connector. The southbound side of the connector will be closed next year.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
