Michigan Notes

[The Ghostbuster]

I think the most that might happen in the formerly proposed Interstate 73 corridor is converting US 127 from St. Johns to Ithaca into a freeway. Even that won't happen for quite some time, although I think it should have happened by now.

[Plutonic Panda]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but the article mentions Michigan as a state to possibly help this project gain traction:

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/09/could-michigan-resume-effort-to-complete-interstate-to-south-carolina.html

[The Ghostbuster]

Forget it! It would take decades to complete Interstates 73 and 74 even if they started tomorrow. Michigan, West Virginia and Virgina have no interest in constructing 73 and 74. It's a lost cause for Ohio. Ohio should make the improvements necessary, but without the strings attached (Interstate signage).

[wanderer2575]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but the article mentions Michigan as a state to possibly help this project gain traction:

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/09/could-michigan-resume-effort-to-complete-interstate-to-south-carolina.html

Headline:  "Could Michigan resume effort to complete Interstate to South Carolina?"

Entire story:  "No."

Useless clickbait.

[Terry Shea]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but the article mentions Michigan as a state to possibly help this project gain traction:

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/09/could-michigan-resume-effort-to-complete-interstate-to-south-carolina.html

Once again:
It's an MLive article.  MLive is to news credibility what I am to ballet. 

[afguy]

Gov. Whitmer and the legislature have come to an agreement on the state budget. The proposed budget will an additional $1.5 billion annually to fix the state roads and bridges, this is only half of what was initially proposed. While it would have been nice see the additional $3 billion annually, $1.5 billion is a good start.

Michigan budget deal includes $1.5B for roads, new marijuana tax

Michigan leaders have agreed to dedicate an additional $1.5 billion each year to fix the state's crumbling roads and bridges, about half of what was initially proposed.

That agreement was announced late Thursday as part of the larger compromise by House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on a state spending plan for 2025-2026.

The deal comes just days before Oct. 1, when the state government will shut down if a spending plan isn't enacted. The state's new fiscal year begins on that date, and lawmakers are expected to pass the compromise budget early next week before the deadline. House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, gave some additional details late Thursday to reporters about the roads plan and the compromise budget. Whitmer's office broke the news of the deal but provided no specifics on the compromise budget and roads deal, only that it would generate "nearly" $2 billion in additional road funding.

Hall declined to say what dollar amount lawmakers and the governor settled on for per pupil funding in the School Aid budget.

The $1.5 billion in road funding will be generated by shifting all existing gas tax revenue and some corporate income tax revenue to roads as well as creating a new 26% wholesale tax on marijuana, Hall said.

Growth in corporate income tax is expected to increase each year, bringing total new road funding to an estimated $1.8 billion by 2029.

The road funding plan is about half of what both House Republicans and Whitmer had originally proposed.

https://www.mlive.com/politics/2025/09/michigan-budget-deal-includes-15b-for-roads-new-marijuana-tax.html

[vegas1962]

Recently I traveled eastbound on I-96 from Muskegon back to the metro Detroit area and noticed something interesting.  I was not paying much attention to the mile markers until, around mile marker 60 (which happened to coincide with a construction zone), I began noticing that the mile markers were posted at quarter-mile intervals, not the 0.2-mile intervals used generally everywhere else. The quarter-mile intervals appeared until mile marker 72 (just west of Portland), then the mile markers were posted only every mile until MM 132, just west of Howell. From that point forward, the MM posting intervals became every 0.2-mile.

Curious to know if anyone knows anything from within MDOT about MM posting intervals being changed. I've checked the ArcGIS data site but that site hasn't been updated since January 2024. Our trip was from metro Detroit to Manistee via I-75/US-10/M-115/M-55, then we returned home via US-31/I-96.  That 12-mile stretch of I-96 between MM60 and MM72 was the only place during the entire trip that I can recall seeing the quarter-mile MM intervals.

[Terry Shea]

Recently I traveled eastbound on I-96 from Muskegon back to the metro Detroit area and noticed something interesting.  I was not paying much attention to the mile markers until, around mile marker 60 (which happened to coincide with a construction zone), I began noticing that the mile markers were posted at quarter-mile intervals, not the 0.2-mile intervals used generally everywhere else. The quarter-mile intervals appeared until mile marker 72 (just west of Portland), then the mile markers were posted only every mile until MM 132, just west of Howell. From that point forward, the MM posting intervals became every 0.2-mile.

Curious to know if anyone knows anything from within MDOT about MM posting intervals being changed. I've checked the ArcGIS data site but that site hasn't been updated since January 2024. Our trip was from metro Detroit to Manistee via I-75/US-10/M-115/M-55, then we returned home via US-31/I-96.  That 12-mile stretch of I-96 between MM60 and MM72 was the only place during the entire trip that I can recall seeing the quarter-mile MM intervals.

I avoid driving through that construction zone like the plague!  And there aren't really any good alternatives right now.  Grand River Ave is getting overloaded and severely backed up because traffic that would normally use exits 64 and 67 now have to exit at 59 or 73 and use Grand River Ave.  The whole area is a real mess with a lot of other construction projects going on in Ionia County.  And I just recently learned that this construction project on I-96 is going to last at least 2 more years!  But, to answer your question, I haven't seen or noticed those new mile markers and they must have been recently installed as part of the construction project.  They may even be temporary, but I don't know why they'd do that.

[wanderer2575]

Recently I traveled eastbound on I-96 from Muskegon back to the metro Detroit area and noticed something interesting.  I was not paying much attention to the mile markers until, around mile marker 60 (which happened to coincide with a construction zone), I began noticing that the mile markers were posted at quarter-mile intervals, not the 0.2-mile intervals used generally everywhere else. The quarter-mile intervals appeared until mile marker 72 (just west of Portland), then the mile markers were posted only every mile until MM 132, just west of Howell. From that point forward, the MM posting intervals became every 0.2-mile.

Curious to know if anyone knows anything from within MDOT about MM posting intervals being changed. I've checked the ArcGIS data site but that site hasn't been updated since January 2024. Our trip was from metro Detroit to Manistee via I-75/US-10/M-115/M-55, then we returned home via US-31/I-96.  That 12-mile stretch of I-96 between MM60 and MM72 was the only place during the entire trip that I can recall seeing the quarter-mile MM intervals.

Seems like a one-off thing.  The most recent freeway signing plan I have (US-127 in Clare County) shows 0.2-mile intervals in Clare.  The contract was let in March this year, although who knows when the plan was drawn.

[michiganguy123]

Now this is a road that needs a "diet" instead of wasting money on a study to cut a busy business route down to 1 lane in Muskegon that failed a couple years ago.

Could probably rip out the entire half of this road and still have 5 lanes

[Flint1979]

Now this is a road that needs a "diet" instead of wasting money on a study to cut a busy business route down to 1 lane in Muskegon that failed a couple years ago.

Could probably rip out the entire half of this road and still have 5 lanes

That looks like Woodward.

[wanderer2575]

Now this is a road that needs a "diet" instead of wasting money on a study to cut a busy business route down to 1 lane in Muskegon that failed a couple years ago.

Could probably rip out the entire half of this road and still have 5 lanes

Road diets almost always involve adding a center left-turn lane to a two-way road.  That's not relevant here.

And FYI, MDOT recently (I think it was 2024) eliminated one lane in each direction on M-1 Woodward Avenue in Ferndale to create a dedicated bike lane.  So, yes, it can be done if the case is made for it.  Taking out half the lanes for no perceived benefit makes no sense.

[JREwing78]

If anyone wants to see how quickly MDOT and its contractors can move their ass when properly funded, the work around the new Ford battery plant west of Marshall is a prime example. The funding for this roadwork didn't come out of the MDOT budget, but instead the Michigan Strategic Fund, managed by the Michigan Economic Development Council. No years of wrangling to assemble a project budget from a zillion sources - just "Here's your check. Now, build it!"

By the end of this year, 2.4 miles of freshly 4-laned M-96, plus another 4.25 miles of 4-lane boulevard and another 1/2 mile of two-lane connecting streets around the plant will have been completed. The new M-96 overpasses for the diverging diamond interchange over I-69 should be mostly completed (beam setting on the new EBD overpass was completed this past weekend).

Only other parts still pending are a set of stoplights at the east entrance to the plant, and a bit of repaving of the WBD lanes of the M-96 boulevard along the north side of the plant (which are on the original M-96 (formerly US-12) roadbed. Most if not all of this should be complete by Thanksgiving.

The interchange at I-69 is a few weeks away from completing conversion to a diverging diamond, and the brief 6-laning of I-69 between M-96 and I-94 is just about ready. At the moment, the NBD ramp to I-69 is closed.

I didn't have opportunity for good photos, but there's a lot for a road geek or construction geek to check out. 

[GaryV]

By the end of this year, 2.4 miles of freshly 4-laned M-96, plus another 4.25 miles of 4-lane boulevard and another 1/2 mile of two-lane connecting streets around the plant will have been completed. The new M-96 overpasses for the diverging diamond interchange over I-69 should be mostly completed (beam setting on the new EBD overpass was completed this past weekend).

Just in time for the battery plant project to be paused and maybe scaled back:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2023/09/25/ford-motor-company-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-marshall-pausing/70963467007/

https://blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/75644-ford-marshall-plant-to-resume-but-be-scaled-back/

EDIT: It appears to be back on track, but I'm not sure if the initially-stated production capacity will be achieved:

https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/marshall-breathes-sigh-relief-ford-battery-plant-spared-trump-ev-cuts/

[rhen_var]

I seem to remember there were also plans for a flyover ramp at I-94/I-69.  Is that still going to happen?