MDOT plans final closure of westbound I-94 in Ann Arbor this weekend
Westbound Interstate 94 in Ann Arbor will be closed starting Friday night for the second consecutive weekend as the state completes a reconstruction project.
This will be the final weekend for a full closure of one direction of the freeway in Ann Arbor this summer, Michigan Department of Transportation, officials announced Tuesday.
Both westbound lanes of I-94 will close at 10 p.m. Friday and remain closed until 5 a.m. Monday so crews contracted by MDOT can remove and replace damaged portions of nine miles of the concrete roadway.
The closure begins on the east side of Ann Arbor at the Carpenter Road overpass and extends to the junction with M-14 on the west side of Ann Arbor. About three miles of I-94 in the center of the work area will also receive a new overlay of asphalt.
Drivers on westbound I-94 will be detoured to northbound U.S. 23 and then to M-14. The exit ramp from westbound I-94 to southbound U.S. 23 will be closed.
Alternate routes are route U.S. 12 and M-17. MDOT may adjust traffic signal timing at those intersections to accommodate increased traffic due to detoured drivers, officials said.
It's the fourth complete closure of one direction of I-94 this summer for the $4 million project, and MDOT officials confirmed Tuesday that it will be the final closure as a part of the work.
Westbound I-94 was also closed last weekend and MDOT had closed one lane of northbound U.S. 23 at the I-94 interchange to reduce merging accidents. The northbound U.S. 23 closure will not be in place this weekend, MDOT officials said.
Eastbound I-94 was closed the weekends of July 12-15 and July 26-29. The project is proceeding on MDOT's schedule.
View MDOT I-94 construction in a larger map
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
mady
Fri, Aug 9, 2013 : 8:50 p.m.
Hoo boy, here we go again....
A2comments
Wed, Aug 7, 2013 : 11:24 a.m.
Drove on WB I-94 from 23 to State Street yesterday. These repairs are concrete patches on the asphalt road and many of them cause a rough ride. Do they plan on repaving the entire road?
PMJ
Wed, Aug 7, 2013 : 1:06 p.m.
A2comments, I'm curious about that too. They repaved over a section from a little past Jackson Rd to State St. on the eastbound side.
PWJT8D
Wed, Aug 7, 2013 : 3:17 a.m.
Keep in mind that the Thunder Over Michigan air show will be taking place at Willow Run Airport this Saturday and Sunday. This should make for a real fun time getting home from the show if you live west of the airport like myself.
PMJ
Wed, Aug 7, 2013 : 1:09 p.m.
Last weekend there were hundreds of people at Eastern's Convocation Center because the Jr. Olympics were going on there so traffic was just ridiculous in the 23/94/Washtenaw/Michigan Ave area. Several accidents were reported because of the closures.
Ann English
Tue, Aug 6, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
So it was a deliberate lane closure that caused northbound US-23 traffic to move slowly over Washtenaw Avenue last Sunday afternoon, but seconds after I went under US-23, traffic started speeding up. I'm staying off westbound M-14 this weekend; it was crowded with vehicles last week, vehicles that would use I-94 if open.