Michigan Notes

[afguy]

Here's an article that isn't behind a paywall regarding the bills the house passed regarding increased road funding. A large portion of it would go toward local roads.

House passes $3.1B road funding plan with some Dem support. Senate calls it 'nonsense'

The road funding plan advanced Wednesday, in broad strokes, would push roughly $2.2 billion in Corporate Income Tax revenue toward roads plus a $945 million tax swap at the pump for a total of about $3.1 billion in new funding for roads. The path to achieve that total is complicated.

First, the legislation dedicates an estimated $2.2 billion in revenue from the 6% Corporate Income Tax to roads, with about 86% of the total earmarked for township, city and county roads. The $2.2 billion would mean about $1.2 billion currently going to the general fund would be redirected and a $500 million annual earmark for the state's controversial business incentive fund, the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve fund, would be eliminated.

The legislation also would eliminate the 6% sales tax at the pump and replace it with a 20-cent increase in the fuel tax — a swap that would largely come out even for each gallon pumped — so all taxes paid at the pump would go toward road and bridge funding. The 20-cent increase, from about 31 cents per gallon to 51 cents per gallon, would generate about an estimated $945 million in new revenue for roads.

Both of those revenue streams for roads would create holes in various parts of the budget that separate legislation seeks to account for.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/19/michigan-house-republican-oks-3-1b-road-funding-plan-with-some-democratic-support-matt-hall-senate/82547933007/

[JREwing78]

Not impressed. Nonetheless, a gauntlet has been laid down.

Folks should be rightfully irritated with the Dems for not figuring it out before the end of the last election cycle. They left the door open for this.

[afguy]

MDOT has launched a website for a major reconstruction project along I-94 between Wayne Road and Schaefer Road. The project will also include reconfiguring the Ecorse Rd/I-94 interchange. Work will begin in early 2026 and last until mid-2029.



Segment 1
I-94 from Wayne Road to Middle Belt Road improvements:

• Reconstructed roadway and improved drainage
• Partially reconstructed Wayne Road eastern ramps
• Two rehabilitated bridges
• Reconstructed ramps at Vining, Merriman Road and Middle Belt roads
• Extended auxiliary lanes to alleviate traffic congestion
• Intelligent transportation system (ITS) upgrades
• Lighting improvements/replacements

Segment 2
I-94 from Middle Belt Road to Beech Daly Road improvements:

• Reconstructed and realigned roadway and improved drainage
• A new traditional interchange with signalized ramps at Ecorse Road
• Reconstructed Ecorse Road within the interchange with new turn lanes
• New eastbound and westbound I-94 bridges over Inkster and Ecorse roads
• Replaced and widened eastbound I-94 bridge over Beech Daly Road
• Intelligent transportation system (ITS) upgrades
• Lighting improvements/replacements

Segment 3
I-94 from Beech Daly Road to Pelham Road improvements:

• Concrete repairs or patching of the roadway and US-24 ramps
• Median cable barriers

Segment 4
I-94 from Pelham Road to Oakwood Boulevard improvements:

• Reconstructed pavement and improved drainage
• Reconstructed or repaired I-94/M-39 connecting ramps
• Reconstructed or repaired Pelham Road and Van Born Road/ramps and improved drainage
• Reconstructed Oakwood Boulevard ramps (three) and improved drainage
• Rehabilitated bridges (17) and interchanged ramps along I-94/M-39
• Intelligent transportation system (ITS) upgrades

Segment 5
I-94/Schaefer Road Interchange (Ford Rouge Plant Gate 10 Entrance) improvements:

• Replaced and widened bridge at the I-94/Schaefer Road Interchange (Ford Rouge Plant Gate 10 exit)
• Reconstructed and widened I-94 roadway on both sides of the bridge
• Repairs to adjacent railroad bridges (2)
• Intelligent transportation system (ITS) upgrades

https://restore94.com/project-details/

[Flint1979]

The Mackinac Bridge is still closed in both directions.

[Flint1979]

An update on the bridge has it opening tomorrow at 7am at minimum. St. Ignace has been without power for a few days now and gas stations have no fuel.

[JREwing78]

The Mac reopened at 8:30am this morning after a record 30 hour closure for falling ice. In total, it was closed for 42 hours and 15 minutes. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/04/03/mackinac-bridge-closed-thursday-falling-ice/82789019007/

Of course, the bridge being open is only part of the challenge. Folks were being stranded due to the power outage shuttering service stations on both sides of the Bridge. The bridge itself can close again at any time, as ice persists on the structure.

[Flint1979]

The Zilwaukee Bridge closure started today. Southbound will be closed until June 27th or so and I-675 is the detour. I-75 is already backed up so Sunday afternoon's for the next 10 weeks going southbound will be fun.

[JREwing78]

An overheight truck struck the Airport Rd overpass on I-94 in Jackson on Friday. Repair costs and timeframe still TBD. No mention of impacts to I-94 traffic, but Airport Rd is down to one lane each way in the meantime.

Part of me is hoping it's damaged badly enough to warrant its replacement with a SPUI. 4 sets of stoplights between Wayland Dr and O'Neill Dr/Boardman Rd make this area a traffic-choked nightmare. It's also the main barrier preventing extending the 6-lane section of I-94 to M-60.

https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2025/04/airport-road-lanes-closed-in-jackson-after-truck-hits-i-94-bridge.html

[JREwing78]

In other news, Big Penny has consumed her 2nd truck of the year.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122150082812438314&set=a.122100426986438314

[wanderer2575]

In other news, Big Penny has consumed her 2nd truck of the year.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122150082812438314&set=a.122100426986438314

[JREwing78]

Meanwhile, the upgrades to I-94, I-69, and M-96 in the Marshall area appear to still be on-track. Ford applied for and received an extra year from the State of Michigan to complete its plant buildout without losing incentives.

More info: https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/projects-studies/marshall-modernization

The $330 Million in highway infrastructure investment is coming from the Michigan Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund, and includes funding for:
- 6-laning I-94 between M-96 (Michigan Ave) and I-69
- 6-laning I-69 between I-94 and M-96
- a 2-lane flyover ramp from NBD I-69 to WBD I-94
- widening the EBD I-94 to SBD I-69 movement to 2 lanes
- Converting the I-69 interchange with M-96 to a diverging-diamond interchange
- a 4-lane boulevard section of M-96 west of I-69 to M-311 and I-94
- a redesigned diverging diamond interchange of M-96/M-311 with I-94, replacing the two existing overpasses with a single overpass between them. Off-ramps will be 2-lane while on-ramps will be a single lane. 
- a short 4-lane boulevard section of M-311 between the I-94 interchange and F Drive South. It's unclear how MDOT intends the M-96 and M-311 movements to work, but it appears a Y-intersection south of I-94 is the choice, with likely one stoplight to allow EBD M-96 traffic to cross NBD M-311 traffic in the vicinity of the casino. 
- some kind of connector road between 11 Mile Rd north of the new I-94 interchange and M-96, to service the existing truck stops. The MDOT document don't make clear what form they expect this to take

[wanderer2575]

It's well-publicized that eastbound I-696 between M-10 in Southfield and I-75 in Hazel Park is closed until mid- to late-November 2026 for reconstruction and bridge repair.  Not so well-known is that the westbound side of this stretch is closed for 10 days, to reopen by 5:00am May 19th, for removal of the Victoria Park (Church Street) deck in Oak Park and work on other bridges.  Nothing about this was noted in MDOT's recent press releases.

I took a couple photos early this afternoon from the Rothstein Park deck to the west.

[GaryV]

Nothing about this was noted in MDOT's recent press releases.

I'm not sure where they got it, but it has been in newspapers and on the radio. I even received an email about it from the volunteer coordinator at the Detroit Zoo (I volunteer there a couple times a week). So someone must have had some kind of release that went to a number of places.

But thanks for the pictures.

[Flint1979]

As for the Zilwaukee Bridge, there have been some delays along SB I-675 during the closure of the SB bridge but nothing real major. This weekend will be a test but it'll be coming back downstate from up north since the NB bridge is still open. There will be about a two week gap between the opening of the SB bridge and the closing of the NB bridge. The SB bridge is due to open in late June and the NB bridge will be close from about the middle of July to November.

I-675 is two lanes in each direction for the entire length of the highway where I-75 is three lanes in each direction between the two I-675 terminuses. So the backups will begin soon.

[The Ghostbuster]

Michigan Highways has a great in-depth website on the history of the Zilwaukee Bridge: https://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/zilwaukee.html.

[Flint1979]

Michigan Highways has a great in-depth website on the history of the Zilwaukee Bridge: https://www.michiganhighways.org/indepth/zilwaukee.html.

Oh yeah I'm well aware of the tilt on the northbound bridge that had to be re constructed. I pretty much watched that bridge get built.

[afguy]

The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (Lansing) has launched a study in the northeast portion of the Lansing Metro regarding freeway access. While the page for the study doesn't list it, options being considered are adding exits at State Rd and US-127 or at Chandler Rd and I-69.
https://www.mitcrpc.org/post/freeway-access-study-underway-to-evaluate-access-to-east-lansing-clinton-county-area

[The Ghostbuster]

If interchanges were built at either location, building them as diamond interchanges could be done without taking up too much space.

[JREwing78]

MDOT left room for a full diamond interchange with I-69 at Chandler Rd. It's short-spaced to the US-127/I-69 interchange, but if the entrance and exit ramps are kept on the east side of the overpass, they can put a full mile between ramps. At worst, there's a 3/4 mile gap between the two interchanges.  

State Rd is more problematic, mainly for SBD exit and entry. NBD has sufficient room to work with, but SBD will require taking out a significant chunk of the Cadgewith Farms community and/or King Arthur's Court. The alternative would be a creative shift of the US-127 roadway and even more creative ramp design to not short-space itself to the US-127/I-69 interchange. 

Normally MDOT could opt to incorporate a State Rd interchange into the weave/merge lanes for SBD US-127 at the I-69 interchange, but the odd shape of the EBD I-69 to SBD US-127 movement frustrates that idea, being the original SB US-127 roadway from 1973, before the I-69 interchange (or the I-69 roadbed itself) existed. 

Long story short, Chandler Rd is by far the better of the two options. State Rd could be built as a partial interchange (NBD US-127 entry and exit only) easily enough, but giving the same access to SBD is going to be a trainwreck.

[wanderer2575]

There was some discussion here recently about the new I-96 bridges over the Grand River just west of Lansing.  The new westbound bridge is at an angle to the existing bridge, which I assumed was for a new alignment.  I drove through there early Friday morning, as it turns out just before that new alignment opened.



When I drove through there in the afternoon on my way back home, westbound traffic had been shifted to the new alignment and bridge.

[JREwing78]

Makes sense. The spacing between the EBD and WBD I-96 overpasses was formerly quite large (about 520', or roughly twice the space needed for a freeway ROW). It was built wide enough that it could accommodate separated weave/merge lanes at Lansing Rd (formerly US-27), though they were never built. This wide section of I-96 extends from Creyts Rd north to the I-69 interchange

The main benefit of this construction approach appears to be that MDOT is able to maintain 4 lanes of through traffic for most of the construction period. They built new bridges over the Grand River prior to the work at Lansing Rd; this approach allowed them to build a new WBD bridge, then send EBD traffic over it while the EBD bridge was reconstructed. Later, they'll be able to take down the old WBD bridge without disturbing traffic.

It's not clear what the plan is at Lansing Rd for EBD traffic. One would presume the EBD I-96 overpass is also going to be replaced, but I'm having trouble finding specifics.

[afguy]

Blue Water Bridge Plaza expansion project brings I-94 lane, ramp changes

The first, which starts Monday, is funded by MDOT. It includes relocating eastbound I-94 and I-69 Exit 275 to M-25, or Pine Grove Avenue; reconfiguring the 10th Avenue and Pine Grove Avenue intersection; rebuilding eastbound I-94 and I-69 at the MDOT maintenance facility location; and installing noise walls along the eastbound I-94 and I-69 exit to Pine Grove Avenue, as well as along westbound I-94 and I-69 Business Loop from Garfield Street south to the Black River Bridge. "We are aware of congestion issues and backups that were occurring as work began on the Blue Water Bridge Plaza expansion project. To address this and to provide reliable access for both commuter and commercial traffic as this project progresses, MDOT has decided to implement several changes on I-94 and the Pine Grove ramp," Caitlyn French, MDOT Bay Region communications representative, said in a statement Friday.

"The eastbound I-94 lanes leading into the plaza will have updated pavement markings placed to accommodate three lanes of traffic, with the left lane reserved for passenger vehicles. The ramp from Pine Grove to the plaza will be restricted to passenger vehicles only to help reduce congestion in downtown Port Huron."

The project is expected to end in December, but sound walls along westbound I-69 and the I-94 business loop are projected to be completed in 2026, MDOT said. Drivers should expect intermittent lane closures and delays.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/06/08/blue-water-bridge-plaza-expansion-project-i94-lane-ramp-changes/84072019007/

[afguy]

Public meeting June 25 to discuss replacing section of Martin Luther King Jr. Street bridge in 2026

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday, June 25, to discuss next year's planned $30 million investment to rebuild approximately 700 feet of the Martin Luther King Jr. Street bridge from the northbound US-131 ramps east to the end of the bridge. MDOT officials will provide current project details, scheduling information and expected traffic impacts. The public is invited to stop by anytime during the meeting to learn more about the project, provide comments and ask questions.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2025/06/18/public-meeting-june-25-to-discuss-replacing-section-of-martin-luther-king-jr

[afguy]

Ramp metering traffic lights begin on I-96 in Oakland County

Traffic lights started operating on some entrance ramps to Interstate 96 in Metro Detroit Wednesday, providing directions that transportation officials call "ramp metering" at the merges.

The flex route area on I-96 opened in March between Kent Lake Road and the I-275/I-696/M-5 interchange in Oakland County. While this traffic setup is new to Metro Detroit, there already is a flex route on US-23 in Livingston and Washtenaw counties.

The ramp metering affects eight entrance maps along that area of I-96 between Novi and Milford roads, the Michigan Department of Transportation reported. The meters will start operation in yellow flash mode to remind drivers to be cautious. 

But eventually, the lights will use the traditional green/yellow/red lights seen on intersetion traffic signals to indicate when oncoming traffic can take its turn. Drivers will have to stop at the pavement line, then proceed one at a time onto the ramp, when the red lights are active.

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/ramp-metering-traffic-lights-begin-on-i-96-in-oakland-county/