DETROIT – A $75 million construction project on I-275 is officially underway with a major closure.
The southbound lanes of I-275 north of Five Mile Road to the I-96/I-696/M-5 interchange are closed, and are not expected to reopen until July.
The northbound side of I-275 is expected to shut down in July and reopen in September.
View: Detour map
This project includes replacing 88 lane miles of concrete pavement on I-275 from north of Five Mile Road to the I-96/I-696/M-5 interchange, including all the ramps on "mile" roads and at the I-96/I-696/M-5 interchange.
The project also includes shoulder work on I-275, concrete repairs on I-696, repairs on 16 bridges, drainage improvements, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) work. Toebe Construction is the contractor.
View a project map here.
Sky4 view: Southbound I-275 closure in effect May 2
Detours (From MDOT):
The southbound I-275 closure will require eastbound I-96 traffic to continue onto I-696 to southbound M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to southbound M-39 (Southfield Freeway), then westbound I-96 back to southbound I-275.
Maps showing the detour route are available at the I-275 project website: www.revive275.com. Up-to-date closure information will be available on the Mi Drive website and app: www.michigan.gov/drive.
Currently, westbound 7 Mile Road is closed over I-275, with traffic detoured northbound to 8 Mile Road. It is expected to reopen before this weekend.
View: Detour map
Two lanes of northbound I-275 will be closed during weeknight and weekend work, including the shoulders, to allow crews to prepare the road surface for upcoming work and later lane closures.
In addition to these closures, Meadowbrook Road is currently closed until Wednesday, 4/27/16 at 7 a.m. with traffic detoured at 12 Mile Road and at Grand River Avenue.
When Meadowbrook Road reopens, Haggerty Road will be closed over I-96/I-696/I-275 (three bridges) beginning Wednesday, 4/27/16, approximately 9 a.m. through May 2, with posted detours. Haggerty Road is expected to reopen before the southbound I-275 closure.
A look back: 7-mile I-96 project in Livonia, Redford finishes early
Other detour options considered
MDOT said it looked at 22 possible road closure configurations, detours, lane shifts, and other traffic control options (barrels, barriers, signs, manpower, etc.). These configurations were narrowed to the three best options and were offered in the survey, which was conducted online earlier this month.
The most popular option (with 87 percent) of the responses was to close and detour one direction of I-275 at a time, taking only one construction season -- $1.04 million in traffic control costs.
"Eighty-nine percent said rip the band-aid off quick," said MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross. "Just get it over with, whatever it takes."
The other options were:
- Keep northbound I-275 during the entire project with traffic shifted as work is performed and detour southbound I-275 traffic, taking two construction seasons -- $2.87 million in traffic control costs.
- Have both directions of traffic maintained on one side of the freeway with a barrier wall separating traffic, taking two construction seasons -- $4.85 million in traffic control costs.