Winter Road Work Alert

Road construction would stand in the way of your weekend plans. The second week of the new year already finds road crews launching in to the 2011 construction season.

WWJ's John Bailey reports that you'll want to steer clear of a section of freeway in Novi on Sunday. Sign installation is scheduled to leave just one lane open will have motorists riding the brakes along eastbound I-96

To make matters worse, crews plan to periodically stop traffic for up to 15 Minutes.  The work is scheduled for Sunday from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m.  You can use Grand River Ave. to avoid the backups.

Then, coming next week, one of the year's major freeway projects will begin. The bridge replacement and pavement repair on M-39 is scheduled to kick off as early as Monday morning.

The first phase of the project is demolition of the 8 Mile Road bridge over the freeway.  That is scheduled to close the southbound M-39 exit ramp at 8 Mile.  Motorists can use the M-10  ramps at Evergreen or 8 Mile  instead.

Planned lane closures at 8 Mile over the freeway are expected to cause peak-drive time stop-and-go as well.

It's all part of an $80 million facelift, says MDOT's Rob Morosi.

"We're going to rehabilitate 24 bridges. We're going to do some pavement work up and down the corridor, on the freeway portion. What we wanna do is get everything done in one construction season," Morosi said. 

Other phases of the project along the Southfield freeway will see it shut down completely between I-96 and the Lodge, but that won't happen until June and last right through October.

For the latest anytime, tune to WWJ Newsradio 950 for Traffic and Weather on the 8s, 24-hours a day. Don't forget about our real time traffic page.

Complete Road Work Details Beginning Monday, Jan. 10:

I-94/I-96 interchange:

In Detroit, sign replacement work will require the closure of the ramp from eastbound I-94 to westbound I-96 to be closed during the overnight hours on Monday, Jan.10 and Tuesday, Jan. 11. That ramp movement will close beginning at 9 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday nights, and open by 5 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

During the ramp closure, traffic may proceed east on I-96 to Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and turn around to access westbound I-96.

M-3 (Gratiot Avenue):

In Macomb County, intermittent single lane closures are scheduled on northbound and southbound M-3 at Wellington-Crescent Road (near the bridge over the Clinton River) in Mt Clemens from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 10. 

I-696:

In Macomb County, beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11 and opening by 5 a.m. on Wed. Jan. 12, sign work will require the two right lanes of eastbound I-696 to be closed at El Capitan Road in the city of Warren. In addition, the 11 Mile Road entrance ramp to eastbound I-696 will be closed during the same time frame.

In Macomb County, beginning at 8 p.m. on Wed. Jan. 12 and ending by 5 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13, sign replacement work will require the two right lanes of eastbound I-696 to be closed at Merideth Road in the city of Warren.

In Macomb County, beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13 and ending by 5 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, the two right lanes of eastbound I-696 will be closed at Sherwood Ave in the city of Warren for sign work. In addition, the on ramps from Mound Road to eastbound I-696 will be closed during the same time frame.