Construction in Rochester chokes suburbs from jobs

Commuters tell Local 4 construction, detours have lengthened their drive time

ROCHESTER, Mich. – I think everybody knows that when construction in the Rochester/Rochester Hills corridor is completed, it's going to be great. But at the moment, people who live in this part of Oakland County have reached the "are you kidding?" threshold.

You'll remember earlier this summer Local 4 did the story on Main Street in downtown Rochester being completely shut down because the road couldn't accommodate the weight of vehicles.

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The original road underneath was built for horse and buggy traffic. 

So, Livernois became one of the main detours for all the people living north trying to get to jobs south.

Well, now the north-south bridge at Livernois is shut down for repairs, which means much of the northern suburbs, which rely on these roads, are choked off with no easy way to get from point A to point B.

Josy Foisy of Rochester Hills lives three minutes from work…usually…not any more.

The good news is the Rochester Road/Main Street construction will be completed by July 20th, just in time to become the new detour for Livernois traffic, which will be choked off with the bridge closure at Avon until November.

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About the Author:

Paula Tutman is an Emmy award-winning journalist who came to Local 4 in 1992. She's married and the stepmother of three beautiful and brilliant daughters. Her personal philosophy in life, love and community is, "Do as much as you can possibly do, not as little as you can possibly get away with".