Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Livingston County motorists will encounter fewer headaches and delays as crews on the I-96 Flex Route project have completed work for this year.

MDOT Spokeswoman Diane Cross says the good news is that I-96 is now open to three lanes in each direction and every on/off ramp is re-opened - and that’s how will stay until crews come back in late February or early March, depending on the weather.

On the flip side, MDOT still has a lot going on and that’s because of the weather. Cross says everyone has enjoyed a nice fall but the weather is going to start getting colder and worse so they need to get projects wrapped up.

For anyone traveling in Metro Detroit, there are three freeway closures this weekend.

Westbound I-94 is closed between I-75 and I-96 while both north and southbound I-75 is closed between I-696 and roughly 14 Mile.

Westbound I-696 from US-24 (Telegraph Road) to I-275 is closed again through 5am Monday so crews can perform pavement repairs and shoulder widening throughout the weekend. It’s part of the preparation for the $275 (M) million Rebuilding Michigan project on eastbound and westbound I-696 between I-275 and Evergreen Road that will begin rebuilding the eastbound lanes next spring and then the westbound lanes in 2024.

Significant delays can be expected throughout the weekend and alternate routes are advised.

Cross stated it does affect tens of thousands of people when they work on the weekends but during the weekdays – it’s hundreds of thousands. When people are not happy because they’re late for a game or a family event, she says they need to realize that MDOT is weighing a lot of factors and the goal is to inconvenience as few people as possible and that’s why they do such much work and closures on the weekend.

More information on the closures is available in the provided link.