Michigan Notes

[Flint1979]

As it makes its way between I-696 and M-59, I-75 behaves like the constellation Cassiopeia, making 90 degree turns as if following section lines.  What's the backstory as to that alignment?

ixnay

It's just the way it goes through Troy to get better aligned to enter Detroit. There is a 50 mph curve just south of Nine Mile Road in Hazel Park too.

[GaryV]

As it makes its way between I-696 and M-59, I-75 behaves like the constellation Cassiopeia, making 90 degree turns as if following section lines.  What's the backstory as to that alignment?

ixnay

It's just the way it goes through Troy to get better aligned to enter Detroit. There is a 50 mph curve just south of Nine Mile Road in Hazel Park too.

Probably mostly to do with land acquisition.  It's easier to assemble parcels in straight N-S and E-W rows than on a diagonal.  And the leftover pieces not used for the freeway have better access and use potentials than triangular shaped parcels would have.  So overall, they might not have had to get as much land by eminent domain.

[ftballfan]

In 2019 and 2020, I-96 will be slightly realigned around the I-196/East Beltline mess. Tree clearing has been happening already: https://www.woodtv.com/news/traffic/mdot-to-reconstruct-frustrating-i-96i-196-interchange/1368143077

[adwerkema]

In 2019 and 2020, I-96 will be slightly realigned around the I-196/East Beltline mess. Tree clearing has been happening already: https://www.woodtv.com/news/traffic/mdot-to-reconstruct-frustrating-i-96i-196-interchange/1368143077

Very exciting!!

As an aside, I find it funny you posted this only 25 minutes after the article was posted. Were you following this before the article was posted?

[wanderer2575]

In 2019 and 2020, I-96 will be slightly realigned around the I-196/East Beltline mess. Tree clearing has been happening already: https://www.woodtv.com/news/traffic/mdot-to-reconstruct-frustrating-i-96i-196-interchange/1368143077

I wish to blazes they would do the same to eliminate the weave/merge on southbound M-10 between the I-696 entrance and the US-24 exits in Southfield.  The whole weave/merge area is often at a complete standstill during morning rush hours because northbound US-24 is backed up, and that backs up eastbound 696 for a couple miles.

[Flint1979]

In 2019 and 2020, I-96 will be slightly realigned around the I-196/East Beltline mess. Tree clearing has been happening already: https://www.woodtv.com/news/traffic/mdot-to-reconstruct-frustrating-i-96i-196-interchange/1368143077

I wish to blazes they would do the same to eliminate the weave/merge on southbound M-10 between the I-696 entrance and the US-24 exits in Southfield.  The whole weave/merge area is often at a complete standstill during morning rush hours because northbound US-24 is backed up, and that backs up eastbound 696 for a couple miles.

Telegraph always backs up in that area, between the Mixing Bowl and 12 Mile I think there's something like 85,000-90,000 vehicles that use Telegraph every day.

[JREwing78]

Freep: U.S. 23 flex route experiment reducing congestion, but crashes up slightly
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/community/livingston-county/2018/09/07/us-23-flex-route-congestion-traffic-crashes-ann-arbor-brighton-green-oak/1204103002/

US-23 along its entire length is a ripe candidate for permanent 6-laning; some sections on the east side of Ann Arbor would justify 8-laning. Neither the throughput improvement nor the slight bump in crashes comes as any surprise to this observer.

[Flint1979]

Freep: U.S. 23 flex route experiment reducing congestion, but crashes up slightly
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/community/livingston-county/2018/09/07/us-23-flex-route-congestion-traffic-crashes-ann-arbor-brighton-green-oak/1204103002/

US-23 along its entire length is a ripe candidate for permanent 6-laning; some sections on the east side of Ann Arbor would justify 8-laning. Neither the throughput improvement nor the slight bump in crashes comes as any surprise to this observer.

I agree. I think US-23 should be six lanes from Flint to the state line or a little before the state line unless Ohio six laned their stretch of US-23 there. And yes I would say pretty much everything from I-96 to I-94 should be eight lanes.

Every time I've used US-23 I have always had the problem with the left lane campers. You'll be wanting to do 80 but you'll have someone hanging out in the left lane doing 70 or so and no one in front of them and not passing anyone but yet there they are hanging out in the left lane with traffic backing up behind them. Some people just don't get it and that type of driving just makes me drive worse. I always dread losing the third lane when I'm on I-75 approaching the split at mile marker 115 and have to use US-23, actually I-75 goes down to four lanes too but gets it's six lanes back after I-475 dumps into it.

[wanderer2575]

MDOT has put two freeway signs for the I-75 Pontiac Silverdome exits up for bid.  The two aluminum signs are each roughly 7 feet by 14 feet, weigh approximately 225 pounds, and are in good condition.  Bidding ends Monday 09/24.  MDOT regularly recycles old highway signs, but there has been quite a bit of interest in these particular signs since the Silverdome was torn down.

Those interested in bidding can go to the MiBid auction website (https://mibid.bidcorp.com/auctions) and register to participate.  The site features pictures and other details on the items available.  Winning bidders will need to pick up the signs by Wednesday 09/26 at the MDOT Auburn Hills garage.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11057-476676--,00.html

[mgk920]

MDOT has put two freeway signs for the I-75 Pontiac Silverdome exits up for bid.  The two aluminum signs are each roughly 7 feet by 14 feet, weigh approximately 225 pounds, and are in good condition.  Bidding ends Monday 09/24.  MDOT regularly recycles old highway signs, but there has been quite a bit of interest in these particular signs since the Silverdome was torn down.

Those interested in bidding can go to the MiBid auction website (https://mibid.bidcorp.com/auctions) and register to participate.  The site features pictures and other details on the items available.  Winning bidders will need to pick up the signs by Wednesday 09/26 at the MDOT Auburn Hills garage.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11057-476676--,00.html

Lots of bidding interest in them, too.  I'm wondering if one or both might end up in a sports bar somewhere in SE Michigan.

Mike

[captkirk_4]

I noticed Michigan 20 is a very nice 5 lane highway from Midland to Mount Pleasant. I was looking for a route over to Bay City from Illinois and it looked more direct to go up 196 and over the north central part of the state than the bad traffic on 94. It does go back down to two lanes from Mt. Pleasant to the freeway at 131 and you have to jog south on 66 over to 46. That Marathon just east of the Casino in Mt. Pleasant had the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen in a gas station. Sort of a fancy log cabin theme inside the minimart there.

[Flint1979]

I noticed Michigan 20 is a very nice 5 lane highway from Midland to Mount Pleasant. I was looking for a route over to Bay City from Illinois and it looked more direct to go up 196 and over the north central part of the state than the bad traffic on 94. It does go back down to two lanes from Mt. Pleasant to the freeway at 131 and you have to jog south on 66 over to 46. That Marathon just east of the Casino in Mt. Pleasant had the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen in a gas station. Sort of a fancy log cabin theme inside the minimart there.

Yeah M-20 is two lanes in each direction with a turn lane. There are actually a lot of accidents on that stretch of M-20 though, the speed limit is 55 mph.

If you are good at following back roads I can give you a route to Bay City from SW Michigan that would be fine to take. Take US-131 up to exit 125 which is Jefferson Road, make a right on Jefferson, when you get to the end of the street in Morley make a left onto Cass Street, it'll become Northland Drive. Follow that up to 5 Mile and make a right, at 70th Avenue follow the curve onto 70th Avenue going north, that'll take you up to M-20 where it's called 9 Mile Road and M-20 is on a curve right there so make a right onto M-20 and a sort of a bypass of Mt. Pleasant would be to make a left on Meridian Road (there are two Meridian Road's and this is not the one that follows the Michigan Meridian) about a mile after that turn make a right onto E. Pickard, after Mission you'll rejoin M-20 follow that all the way to Midland and M-20 will end into the US-10 freeway, actually it'll be a freeway to freeway interchange. Then follow US-10 right into Bay City. I have taken this route quite a few times and it's a pleasant drive for most of it and the only major city you go through is Grand Rapids.

I don't think that Marathon has been there for very long. I don't remember it from awhile ago but have been past it a few times so I know it's there.

[JREwing78]

Michigan doesn't really have a good SW to NE route really anywhere in the state north of a Grand Rapids to Flint line. US-127 stair-steps westward as it climbs north from Lansing, and then you don't have a good 4-lane connection eastward until Mount Pleasant. There's no good 4-lane connection west of US-127 anywhere north of Lansing. Basically, you see that SW-NE traffic to/from Bay City and Saginaw funneled onto I-69, I-75, and US-23.

Making M-20 a 5-lane surface road was cheaper than purchasing ROW for a 4-lane expressway, and it won't be truly problematic until traffic climbs north of 20,000 vpd. Central Michigan University and the Soaring Eagle are the main traffic generators in Mount Pleasant, and there's no destination west of Mount Pleasant that would organically cause M-20 traffic to increase in the next 20-30 years. Any trips originating from metro Detroit will simply take I-96 to US-127.

MDOT simply has no appetite for new freeways or capacity expansion, and hasn't for 40 years. There's been piecemeal upgrades, but no end-to-end long-distance through-traffic relief. I-96, I-94, and US-23 are overdue for an end-to-end 6/8 laning, as well as extensive sections of US-131. US-127 south of Jackson to US-12 carries nearly 20,000 vpd on a road that's ostensibly a 2-lane (albeit with lots of band-aids). M-89 and M-40 linking Holland to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek has needed 4-laning for years. US-127 between St. Johns and Ithaca is still a surface road 20 years after the St. Johns bypass was built out, and 50+ years after the rest of the highway between Jackson and I-75 was built out as freeway. The MDOT of the 1950s-1970s was much more aggressive about adding capacity.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

In 2019 and 2020, I-96 will be slightly realigned around the I-196/East Beltline mess. Tree clearing has been happening already: https://www.woodtv.com/news/traffic/mdot-to-reconstruct-frustrating-i-96i-196-interchange/1368143077

This is very sorely needed. Making I-96 eastbound traffic jump lanes to get to the Beltline Road exit just a few hundred feet after the I-196 merge was asking too much. Funneling Beltline traffic away from the respective interstates before the merge will untangle that knot. I'm glad they're addressing it and giving it an aggressive timeline to get it done.

I've always had it in my head about how to fix it, and the proposed map is very close to what I thought they would do.

[Flint1979]

Michigan doesn't really have a good SW to NE route really anywhere in the state north of a Grand Rapids to Flint line. US-127 stair-steps westward as it climbs north from Lansing, and then you don't have a good 4-lane connection eastward until Mount Pleasant. There's no good 4-lane connection west of US-127 anywhere north of Lansing. Basically, you see that SW-NE traffic to/from Bay City and Saginaw funneled onto I-69, I-75, and US-23.

Making M-20 a 5-lane surface road was cheaper than purchasing ROW for a 4-lane expressway, and it won't be truly problematic until traffic climbs north of 20,000 vpd. Central Michigan University and the Soaring Eagle are the main traffic generators in Mount Pleasant, and there's no destination west of Mount Pleasant that would organically cause M-20 traffic to increase in the next 20-30 years. Any trips originating from metro Detroit will simply take I-96 to US-127.

MDOT simply has no appetite for new freeways or capacity expansion, and hasn't for 40 years. There's been piecemeal upgrades, but no end-to-end long-distance through-traffic relief. I-96, I-94, and US-23 are overdue for an end-to-end 6/8 laning, as well as extensive sections of US-131. US-127 south of Jackson to US-12 carries nearly 20,000 vpd on a road that's ostensibly a 2-lane (albeit with lots of band-aids). M-89 and M-40 linking Holland to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek has needed 4-laning for years. US-127 between St. Johns and Ithaca is still a surface road 20 years after the St. Johns bypass was built out, and 50+ years after the rest of the highway between Jackson and I-75 was built out as freeway. The MDOT of the 1950s-1970s was much more aggressive about adding capacity.

That is true. You have to do a lot of shifting to go SW to NE or vice versa in Michigan. Using US-131, US-127 and I-75 you can go north and south pretty good but going east and west you're stuck with mostly two lane state highways like M-46, M-20, M-55, M-72 and M-32. Basically you have to do your north travel and then go west. It's too bad they don't have another state highway like M-115 going the other direction, that would make it easier.

[JREwing78]

US-127 and I-496 on the east side of Lansing needs a six-laning. What it's going to get instead are band-aids.

MDOT considers improvements to US-127/I-496 interchange

https://www.wlns.com/news/mdot-considers-improvements-to-us-127i-496-interchange/1528998113?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WLNS-TV

[Flint1979]

I-475 will finally be getting a makeover.

https://www.abc12.com/content/news/More-closures-on-I-475-start-Monday-to-prepare-for-44-million-project-495314231.html

[wanderer2575]

I-475 will finally be getting a makeover.

https://www.abc12.com/content/news/More-closures-on-I-475-start-Monday-to-prepare-for-44-million-project-495314231.html

From the article:

The Michigan Department of Transportation is starting joint repairs and resurfacing on I-475 from Carpenter Road to Clio Road...

Next year, the entire three-mile stretch of I-475 between Carpenter and Clio roads will be completely rebuilt.

Am I reading this correctly?  Once again, MDOT has allowed a freeway to deteriorate to hell and then does major repair and resurfacing only a year before tearing it all up and completely reconstructing it?

[Flint1979]

I-475 will finally be getting a makeover.

https://www.abc12.com/content/news/More-closures-on-I-475-start-Monday-to-prepare-for-44-million-project-495314231.html

From the article:

The Michigan Department of Transportation is starting joint repairs and resurfacing on I-475 from Carpenter Road to Clio Road...

Next year, the entire three-mile stretch of I-475 between Carpenter and Clio roads will be completely rebuilt.

Am I reading this correctly?  Once again, MDOT has allowed a freeway to deteriorate to hell and then does major repair and resurfacing only a year before tearing it all up and completely reconstructing it?

I think they have allowed more than just I-475 to deteriorate to hell. I-475 is in awful shape between Clio Road and Carpenter Road and should have been rebuilt 10 years ago or more. I don't know what it is with the roads in Genesee County but they are just pathetic. They just reconstructed I-69 in between I-475 and I-75 which was just as bad as I-475. Linden Road which isn't under their radar is in real bad shape as are a bunch of other major roads in the county. I don't understand why they are resurfacing it now when they are going to tear it all up and reconstruct it next year. MDOT seriously needs to get busy on reconstructing these major roads that are a mess.

Just to show a picture of what it looks like on I-475, this is pretty much the way the entire stretch between Clio Road and Carpenter Road looks:
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0996199,-83.7065895,3a,75y,256.97h,86.05t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s_a-vdxUodjCEYTMVmDaLLA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D_a-vdxUodjCEYTMVmDaLLA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D26.186766%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

[Flint1979]

Also the pavement changes about a half mile east of the Clio Road exit, from that point to the northern terminus it's not too bad. If you see Hughes Drain and a little pond just west of Beecher High School it's in between there where the pavement changes.

[Flint1979]

I feel better now that I pretty much told MDOT how I feel about them. There is an intersection in Saginaw County that has a high number of accidents. It's on a state highway (M-58) at Hemmeter Road in Saginaw Township. The traffic light that is there lacks a left turn arrow. Westbound M-58 has three lanes, there is a turn lane and eastbound M-58 has two lanes making the entire highway six lanes. When traffic making a left turn from eastbound M-58 to northbound Hemmeter they have to encounter traffic backups in all three lanes and sometimes it'll take 5 or 6 lights for someone to make a turn if they are 5 or 6 cars back at the light. Well there were three accidents at this intersection today and I let MDOT have it. This is now the third time I have approached MDOT about this intersection after Saginaw Township told me that MDOT has to do a study since State Street is a state highway.

This is what I'm talking about. Here on Google Maps you will see the three lanes on the left closest to the BP station. Where I have the view is the spot you'd be sitting in trying to make a left turn off of eastbound State Street onto northbound Hemmeter. The Rendevious and black truck are making a left turn from eastbound State to northbound Hemmeter. In this view the traffic isn't too bad.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4367678,-84.0052482,3a,75y,93.56h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sP36WsacargGOM0XwhAXAeQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[wanderer2575]

US-127 and I-496 on the east side of Lansing needs a six-laning. What it's going to get instead are band-aids.

MDOT considers improvements to US-127/I-496 interchange

https://www.wlns.com/news/mdot-considers-improvements-to-us-127i-496-interchange/1528998113?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WLNS-TV

That's not even a band-aid.  That's not even your mother licking her thumb to wipe off some crud.  But, hey, they've got spiffy new Clearview signage!

[wanderer2575]

MDOT announced a $25-$30 million dollar project to replace the Church Street park deck over I-696 in Oak Park.  The bridge has been leaking significant quantities of water of water onto the freeway for years (which makes for a real driving adventure in winter), and apparently will continue to do so for some years since the replacement won't happen until 2024-2025.  This after the state has already spent several million dollars trying to stop the existing bridge from leaking.

But, hey, we've got new Clearview signs on that stretch of freeway, so it's not all bad.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/11/17/oak-park-bridge-696-replacement/2027697002/

[JREwing78]

MDOT keeps chipping away at US-127 between Ithaca and St. Johns. Now the Y-intersection with Bagley Rd is slated to be cul-de-sac'ed in December with barriers, with a permanent reconfiguration in 2020.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620-482820--,00.html

Map of location: https://goo.gl/maps/Ebzs2A4YoqR2

[mgk920]

MDOT keeps chipping away at US-127 between Ithaca and St. Johns. Now the Y-intersection with Bagley Rd is slated to be cul-de-sac'ed in December with barriers, with a permanent reconfiguration in 2020.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620-482820--,00.html

Map of location: https://goo.gl/maps/Ebzs2A4YoqR2

I'm wondering if the ultimate plan there is to extend Bagley Rd south to Pierce Rd as a frontage road when Pierce Rd is cut off from US 127.

Mike