OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Driving on I-75 in Oakland County can be tricky. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper and construction can stretch as far as the eyes can see.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said it knows it’s frustrating but it’s needed.
“This project is really transformational, it really is. It’s taking a freeway that was built in 1970s and bringing it up to modern day design standards for safety and mobility,” said Rob Morosi, with MDOT.
Morosi said this overhaul is way overdue. More 175,000 cars drive through the stretch daily and that alone can cause a lot of wear and tear.
MDOT is working on a project that is essentially a segment of a much larger project. It’s 8.5 miles long.
“All traffic right now is on the southbound side of the freeway, and that has been open the entire time,” Morosi said.
For the weekend, the crews will shut down both sides in the area.
“The freeway closure, if you’re heading north, starts at I-696. The first place you can get back on the freeway going north is Square Lake Road and then it’s the reverse for southbound. We’re going to be knocking bridges down, to the pavement below, so we have to close the freeway. We can’t allow traffic to run under there,” Morosi said.
The ramps will start closing at 9 p.m. Friday. The freeways will close around 10 p.m. Friday and open back up on Monday at 5 a.m.