(WXYZ) — Construction season is wrapping up in metro Detroit, which means getting around will be a little bit easier...for now. But remember, it's only temporary.
I checked in with the Michigan Department of Transportation on four major projects that slowed drivers down this year.
Starting with I-696 in Western Oakland County, work will wrap up at the end of December and all lanes will open. But come March 2023 through the fall, only two lanes will be open in between I-275 and Lahser.
“I guess I’ll have to avoid the area if they are going to be working on it for a while," Andrew Porter told us.
“It usually takes me like ten minutes to get out, it takes me 25 minutes now," Kourtney Bridgewater said. She takes I-696 to get her daughter to school.
The full rebuild on I-696 won't be complete until 2025.
Next on the list is I-96. Three lanes are now open on I-96 between Kent Lake and I-275, but in March, it's going back down to two lanes in both directions and it will remain that way until the fall.
Also, anticipate ramp closures between Wixom Rd. and I-275.
The work is to build flex lanes – temporary lanes used for heavy traffic, and it should be complete at the end of 2024.
On I-275, construction will remain in place with only two lanes open between Eureka and 5 Mile in both directions.
Traffic will eventually shift to the newly-built southbound lanes, and work should wrap up in 2024.
Finally, the major modernization project on I-75 is set to wrap up in 2023.
The final steps next year will include rebuilding the southbound lanes of the highway between 13 Mile and I-696.
Construction for the season has wrapped on the highway, including the ramp closures.
The ramps from both westbound and eastbound I-696 are now open to northbound I-75.
