Michigan Notes

[74/171FAN]

The US 12/M-51 conversion from an interchange to Michigan lefts in Niles is basically complete.

[seicer]

The US 12/M-51 conversion from an interchange to Michigan lefts in Niles is basically complete.

Looking at older aerials of that corridor (US 12-M 60), it looks like a route projected to have more traffic that never materialized. 

[The Ghostbuster]

I believe the entire US 12 corridor (then US 112) between New Buffalo and Detroit was to have been upgraded to either expressway or freeway standards with bypasses around each town: https://michiganhighways.org/listings/US-012.html. The Niles Bypass was all that was constructed of that plan. I think having a freeway paralleling both the historic US 12 (now Interstate 94) and the present-day US 12 would have been massive overkill. Then again, the State of Michigan also once proposed to make US 2 between Escanaba and St. Ignace completely freeway, and all that was constructed of that plan was the four-lane expressway segment of US 2/41 between Escanaba and Rapid River.

[JREwing78]

MDOT in the 1960s had far better funding resources available to build out expressways everywhere.

US-12 simply doesn't carry the traffic that makes overpasses necessary. Neither does M-51 (former US-31) anymore. Nor does M-60 at the interchange with US-12.

Without the pretext of this corridor becoming an expressway or freeway connecting New Buffalo to Ypsilanti, there was no reason for the interchanges at M-60 or M-51 to exist.

[Molandfreak]

What's going on with the business loops of I-94 and US 23 in Ann Arbor? It looks like they stopped signing them beyond their termini, and the I-94 business loop is literally only signed at its western terminus. Are there plans to convert them to spurs like MDOT did in Kalamazoo?

[JREwing78]

Ann Arbor's in charge of maintenance of those Business Loops, and they suck at signage.

More:
https://michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwysBus2-31.html#US-23BUS-AA
https://michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwysBus32-94.html#I-94BL-AA

[rhen_var]

I believe the entire US 12 corridor (then US 112) between New Buffalo and Detroit was to have been upgraded to either expressway or freeway standards with bypasses around each town: https://michiganhighways.org/listings/US-012.html. The Niles Bypass was all that was constructed of that plan. I think having a freeway paralleling both the historic US 12 (now Interstate 94) and the present-day US 12 would have been massive overkill. Then again, the State of Michigan also once proposed to make US 2 between Escanaba and St. Ignace completely freeway, and all that was constructed of that plan was the four-lane expressway segment of US 2/41 between Escanaba and Rapid River.

There's also the random cloverleaf interchange that was graded but never built on M-52 near Clinton.

[wanderer2575]

I believe the entire US 12 corridor (then US 112) between New Buffalo and Detroit was to have been upgraded to either expressway or freeway standards with bypasses around each town: https://michiganhighways.org/listings/US-012.html. The Niles Bypass was all that was constructed of that plan. I think having a freeway paralleling both the historic US 12 (now Interstate 94) and the present-day US 12 would have been massive overkill. Then again, the State of Michigan also once proposed to make US 2 between Escanaba and St. Ignace completely freeway, and all that was constructed of that plan was the four-lane expressway segment of US 2/41 between Escanaba and Rapid River.

There's also the random cloverleaf interchange that was graded but never built on M-52 near Clinton.

M-52 itself also was once planned to be converted to a freeway north of Adrian.

[wanderer2575]

MDOT has completed an environmental assessment (EA) and preferred alternative (PA) for the proposed I-94 connected and automated vehicle (CAV) corridor project in Washtenaw and Wayne counties (between Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Ann Arbor and M-10 in Detroit), and will conduct a public hearing to receive comments regarding the EA.

Monday, December 2, 2024
Three identical sessions from 10:00 to 11:30am, from 1:00 to 2:30pm, and from 5:00 to 6:30pm.
Van Buren Township Hall, 46425 Tyler Road, Van Buren Township 48111

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/15/public-hearing-dec-2-for-proposed-i-94-cav-corridor-project-in-van-buren-township

[Great Lakes Roads]

MDOT has completed an environmental assessment (EA) and preferred alternative (PA) for the proposed I-94 connected and automated vehicle (CAV) corridor project in Washtenaw and Wayne counties (between Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Ann Arbor and M-10 in Detroit), and will conduct a public hearing to receive comments regarding the EA.

Monday, December 2, 2024
Three identical sessions from 10:00 to 11:30am, from 1:00 to 2:30pm, and from 5:00 to 6:30pm.
Van Buren Township Hall, 46425 Tyler Road, Van Buren Township 48111

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/15/public-hearing-dec-2-for-proposed-i-94-cav-corridor-project-in-van-buren-township

I'd figured that MDOT would take a general-purpose lane (the left lane) and convert it to a CAV lane...
Good to see that MDOT also have plans to rebuild the Ecorse Road interchange!

[KelleyCook]

MDOT has completed an environmental assessment (EA) and preferred alternative (PA) for the proposed I-94 connected and automated vehicle (CAV) corridor project in Washtenaw and Wayne counties (between Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Ann Arbor and M-10 in Detroit), and will conduct a public hearing to receive comments regarding the EA.

Monday, December 2, 2024
Three identical sessions from 10:00 to 11:30am, from 1:00 to 2:30pm, and from 5:00 to 6:30pm.
Van Buren Township Hall, 46425 Tyler Road, Van Buren Township 48111

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/15/public-hearing-dec-2-for-proposed-i-94-cav-corridor-project-in-van-buren-township

I'd figured that MDOT would take a general-purpose lane (the left lane) and convert it to a CAV lane...
Good to see that MDOT also have plans to rebuild the Ecorse Road interchange!

That general purpose lane they are stealing really is necessary. They've already stole the lane with the already opened section right by Belleville and despite what that questionable environmental impact report assures, traffic there is noticeably worse already.

We taxpayers paid for this lane and yet they are giving it away to a shadowy corporation for testing purposes.

On the Ecorse interchange redesign, that was already in the plans. I filled out a preference for its configuration over three years ago. I still have no idea what the final decision was as the current administration isn't really big on public transparency. Since I had filled out the form, I was actually pleasantly surprised at the speed of the change when they closed the exit on WB I-94 for a few months in summer 2022 ... and then was shocked when it opened it back up in the same horrid left hand exit/entrance around a blind curve configuration.

[wanderer2575]

On the Ecorse interchange redesign, that was already in the plans. I filled out a preference for its configuration over three years ago. I still have no idea what the final decision was as the current administration isn't really big on public transparency. Since I had filled out the form, I was actually pleasantly surprised at the speed of the change when they closed the exit on WB I-94 for a few months in summer 2022 ... and then was shocked when it opened it back up in the same horrid left hand exit/entrance around a blind curve configuration.

I submitted that survey too.  But finalizing an interchange redesign and actually constructing it doesn't happen nearly so quickly after that.  The wbd I-94 exit ramp was closed because of unrelated Ecorse Road reconstruction.

[JREwing78]

This is the PR statement that basically states you can legally do 70 on US-23 with the flex lanes running now. This isn't a surprise as most folks were disregarding the speed limit on the VMS signs anyway. 

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/21/mdot-makes-operational-improvements-to-us-23-flex-route-in-livingston-washtenaw-counties

[Flint1979]

This is the PR statement that basically states you can legally do 70 on US-23 with the flex lanes running now. This isn't a surprise as most folks were disregarding the speed limit on the VMS signs anyway.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/21/mdot-makes-operational-improvements-to-us-23-flex-route-in-livingston-washtenaw-counties

The flex lanes are flat out stupid to begin with, they should be available to use 24 hours a day.

[afguy]

The new incoming republican house speaker wants to increase spending on roads by $2.7 billion annually. We shall see if this happens

House speaker-elect proposes $2.7B road funding plan as state faces revenue 'cliff'

Incoming Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall on Friday proposed a plan to increase road funding by $2.7 billion annually, saying the issue is pressing and should be acted on during the legislative lame-duck session in December.

Hall, a Republican, will start leading the chamber in January after his party flipped control from Democrats in the election. He unveiled his proposal at a time the state is facing the prospect of a revenue "cliff" when a five-year, $3.5 billion bonding program ends. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went that route in 2020 after having unsuccessfully pursued a 45-cents-a-gallon fuel tax hike.

A 2023 report commissioned by the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association, a construction trade group, says the state has a $3.9 billion annual funding shortfall for roads and bridges.

Under Hall's proposal, Michigan would:

• Dedicate $1.2 billion of corporate income tax revenue to infrastructure each year. That money currently goes to the general fund. Hall wants it mostly set aside for local roads since the state borrowing has benefited I-, U.S.- and M-numbered routes.
• Put the remaining $600 million in corporate tax collections toward infrastructure starting in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The money now is earmarked for economic development and site development incentives ($500 million), real estate redevelopment grants ($50 million) and housing grants ($50 million). The former two earmarks are set to expire after this budget year, though House Democrats have proposed a 10-year extension under which the $600 million would be split differently among economic development, transit, housing and redevelopment projects. Whitmer has made continued funding of the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund a top priority. Hall, a critic of using the funding for electric vehicle battery factories, said ending automatic SOAR funding would force the governor and others to make the case for new incentive funds.
• Remove the 6% sales tax on fuel and replace it with a revenue-neutral increase in per-gallon gasoline and diesel taxes of $945 million to exclusively support infrastructure. Hall said schools, which depend on the sales tax for funding, would be held harmless.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/politics-policy/matt-hall-proposes-27-billion-road-funding-plan

[michiganguy123]

This is the PR statement that basically states you can legally do 70 on US-23 with the flex lanes running now. This isn't a surprise as most folks were disregarding the speed limit on the VMS signs anyway.

https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/news-outreach/pressreleases/2024/11/21/mdot-makes-operational-improvements-to-us-23-flex-route-in-livingston-washtenaw-counties

There was never a speed limit in the first place, 60mph was just an advisory speed that didn't make much sense at all

[Flint1979]

The speed limit on US-23 is 70 mph between Bay City and the Ohio line. I can't think of any changes in the speed limit at any point along that stretch.

[JREwing78]

The new incoming republican house speaker wants to increase spending on roads by $2.7 billion annually. We shall see if this happens

House speaker-elect proposes $2.7B road funding plan as state faces revenue 'cliff'

In theory, Gov. Whitmer wants to fix the road funding issue, and the Speaker-elect wants to fix the road funding issue. This is a welcome change from having both sides treating the issue like kryptonite, or one side dictating terms that the other side turns its nose up at (or turns into political hot potato).

As usual, the devil's in the details. How badly does this mess up funding for other necessary government functions? Can the two sides come together to figure out something sustainable?

Notably absent (so far) from the conversation - what (if any) changes will be implemented so that hybrid and electric vehicles pay their fair share of highway taxes, preferably in a way that doesn't require taking out a mortgage every year to pay the bill. Perhaps it's something bundled into a lease or loan payment

[Flint1979]

Train derailment in Saginaw effecting the M-46 Rust Avenue bridge.

[vegas1962]

As of 6:00 AM today, the re-designed interchange at US-24 (Telegraph Rd.) and M-102 (Eight Mile Rd.) is open. What used to be a full cloverleaf is now a diverging-diamond interchange.

[wanderer2575]

As of 6:00 AM today, the re-designed interchange at US-24 (Telegraph Rd.) and M-102 (Eight Mile Rd.) is open. What used to be a full cloverleaf is now a diverging-diamond interchange.

You beat me to it.  I detoured on my way home from work tonight to drive through it.  This was part of a two-year project to rebuild a 1.5 mile stretch of Telegraph Road.  Still some lanes closed on Telegraph but they should open within a few weeks.

Telegraph was closed over the weekend for sign and striping work, but I went over on Saturday to get photos of the new overhead signs.  Advance signage is still sorely lacking.





Arrows on the exit ramps from Eight Mile look like they're on steroids.

[afguy]

MDOT is providing more information of the first phase of the I-94 modernization project in Detroit. The first phase will take 5 years to complete. It will start in 2026 and wrap up in 2031. The first project will be conducting a new underground drainage tunnel similar to what was done with the I-75 widening project in Oakland County. That will take years, 2026-2028. Actual road construction won't start until 2028 and wrap up in 2031.

Drainage tunnel project
2026-2028

• Reduces freeway and service drive storm water discharged to the combined sanitary and storm water systems by 82 percent.
• During heavy rain events, the storm water flows from the freeway and service drives basins directly into drop shafts and then into the tunnel.
• Large capacity tunnels will store up to 8 million of gallons of water allowing municipal systems to drain first into treatment facilities before storm water from the tunnel is discharged.
• Prevents local systems from being overburdened and flooding neighborhoods.

Road and bridge project
2028-2031

• Improve safety and traffic operations by the addition of the auxiliary lanes between the Connor and Gratiot interchanges.
• Rebuilding service drives and converting to two-way traffic.
• Operational safety improvements by extending entrance and exit ramps.
• Modernizing interchanges at Conner Avenue and Gratiot Avenue.
• Replacing 8 overpasses above I-94.

Cost
Estimated $540-$570 million
https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/projects-studies/i-94-modernization-project-detroit/package-1

[Flint1979]

As far as I-94 in Detroit goes, I'll believe it when I see it.

[Plutonic Panda]

As far as I-94 in Detroit goes, I'll believe it when I see it.

What do you mean? Has something like this been proposed before and they didn't follow through on it?

[Flint1979]

As far as I-94 in Detroit goes, I'll believe it when I see it.

What do you mean? Has something like this been proposed before and they didn't follow through on it?

I mean that I've been hearing about this for over 20 years now and very little has been done.