Michigan Notes

[triplemultiplex]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

[wanderer2575]

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

I agree.  At least what's being built will make US-31 free-flowing with no stops, even though it involves a loop ramp southbound.

If you want to get your shorts in a knot, look at what's happening at the west I-94/US-127 interchange in Jackson.  Southbound US-127 freeway traffic has to go through a traffic signal.  The DDI now being built does not change that.

[Terry Shea]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

[JoePCool14]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You act like I lose sleep at night over there not being a direct connection.

This is a roads forum. Naturally, discussions are going to be road-related. Problems with roads are frequently the subject of said discussions.

[SEWIGuy]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

It is beyond pathetic that those freeways aren't being directly connected. This is definitely a case of green tyranny.

[kphoger]

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

And Hugo Chávez was democratically elected. 

[JoePCool14]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

It is beyond pathetic that those freeways aren't being directly connected. This is definitely a case of green tyranny.

This is going to get off topic very quickly, but in this specific case, was there not any alternative to moving the protected land? There are also other examples of this kind of thinking beating out other logic, I'm mostly thinking IL-53 extension.

Protecting species is important. I support a balance though, and not completing an interstate road that connects many miles north and many miles south because of something like that is silly.

[renegade]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

It is beyond pathetic that those freeways aren't being directly connected. This is definitely a case of green tyranny.

This is going to get off topic very quickly, but in this specific case, was there not any alternative to moving the protected land? There are also other examples of this kind of thinking beating out other logic, I'm mostly thinking IL-53 extension.

Protecting species is important. I support a balance though, and not completing an interstate road that connects many miles north and many miles south because of something like that is silly.

But it's the Michigan way!  Do something once, in a half-assed, incomplete way.  Then tear it out and do it over without one single vehicle ever driving upon it.

[rhen_var]

They should have built carriageways for US-31 on either side of I-94 in a collector-distributor setup for BL-94 and had slip lanes connecting the two, then US-31 could branch away again to the north to become I-196.  Then that would have kept US-31 from going through the butterfly area while keeping it as a full, separate freeway connection to I-196.  But that probably would have been way too expensive.

[sprjus4]

^ At minimum, the I-94 to US-31 south ramp should've been built as a flyover as opposed to the loop going in now.

[Flint1979]

I'm not going to lose sleep over an interchange that I don't use that often but it would have been better to connect right into I-196.

[Flint1979]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

It is beyond pathetic that those freeways aren't being directly connected. This is definitely a case of green tyranny.

This is going to get off topic very quickly, but in this specific case, was there not any alternative to moving the protected land? There are also other examples of this kind of thinking beating out other logic, I'm mostly thinking IL-53 extension.

Protecting species is important. I support a balance though, and not completing an interstate road that connects many miles north and many miles south because of something like that is silly.

But it's the Michigan way!  Do something once, in a half-assed, incomplete way.  Then tear it out and do it over without one single vehicle ever driving upon it.

Do you remember that stretch of I-696 they had to completely redo right after they had completed it? This happened maybe 2-3 years ago.

[GaryV]

I don't remember it on I-696.  But recently they had to redo a part of the I-75 rebuild, a mile or so around 13 Mile Rd, where they used the wrong concrete mixture in cold weather.

[SEWIGuy]

Butterfly in the sky...
I can go twice as high...

I find it hilarious all the grousing I've read over the years on that particular angle of this slice of our world.  And for what?  A thirty second faster drive through SW Michigan?  Sooo tyrannical...  I have to disengage the cruise control!!

The direct connection is never happening.  Get over it.

You're entitled to your opinion and we're entitled to ours.  But what's this nonsense about tyranny?  You seem to be the one acting like a tyrant in this scenario.

Actually JoePCool weirdly brought up "tyranny."  Which is odd because the Endangered Species Act was passed through the democratic process.

It is beyond pathetic that those freeways aren't being directly connected. This is definitely a case of green tyranny.

This is going to get off topic very quickly, but in this specific case, was there not any alternative to moving the protected land? There are also other examples of this kind of thinking beating out other logic, I'm mostly thinking IL-53 extension.

Protecting species is important. I support a balance though, and not completing an interstate road that connects many miles north and many miles south because of something like that is silly.

I would argue that what they ended up doing is exactly what a balance is.  Really it's not that big of a deal.

[wanderer2575]

I don't remember it on I-696.  But recently they had to redo a part of the I-75 rebuild, a mile or so around 13 Mile Rd, where they used the wrong concrete mixture in cold weather.

The I-696 issue was a contractor error, as was the I-75 issue. 

[Flint1979]

I don't remember it on I-696.  But recently they had to redo a part of the I-75 rebuild, a mile or so around 13 Mile Rd, where they used the wrong concrete mixture in cold weather.

It happened in 2018 in Warren.

[Flint1979]

Part of I-75's new pavement in Saginaw County. Taken from the Janes Road overpass at the southern terminus of I-675.

[wanderer2575]

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

[renegade]

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

Nothing wrong with that.  I've seen it done in other states.

[Rothman]

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

NY sez:  What else would you pave it with?

[wanderer2575]

Nothing inherently wrong with asphalt if it's done correctly, but all the other segments of this long-term reconstruction between Flint and Bay City have been rebuilt in concrete.

[Flint1979]

Nothing inherently wrong with asphalt if it's done correctly, but all the other segments of this long-term reconstruction between Flint and Bay City have been rebuilt in concrete.

I'm not sure if this was part of the original plans because there was a large gap between the end of the construction at MM 148 and the start of construction last year, I'm talking maybe a 10 year gap and in between I-675's terminuses it goes down to six lanes. But I was kind of surprised too that they dids this in asphalt because like you said the rest of it was done in concrete. The project started in 2002.

[Flint1979]

I had wanted to see the pavement since I noticed that they are removing the dip in I-75 left there from an old railroad overpass and have the SB side completely level with the segments both north and south of there making it a level highway and taking the dip out. It makes sense and I think is nice.

[stevashe]

Part of I-75's new pavement in Saginaw County. Taken from the Janes Road overpass at the southern terminus of I-675.

^^  They're paving this final reconstruction/widening stretch with ASPHALT?

Should be fine as long as it's built properly and with enough thickness. Looks like the pavement there before was also asphalt, so it's really just a matter of replacing it with the same thing.

[Flint1979]

This is the GSV from where I took the pic showing what it looked like before construction began last year.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4290481,-83.890909,3a,15y,179.01h,88.52t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjhf-mUcyC9W7BM_-y2sCDQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192