DETROIT – Northbound I-75 traffic will shift Thursday morning in the Rouge River Bridge construction zone.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) said northbound I-75 traffic — beginning north of Outer Drive — will be shifted onto the newly reconstructed portion of the Rouge River Bridge, and will be shifted back to its regular alignment north of Springwells Avenue. The shift will remain in place until the end of 2018.
- The traffic shift will occur Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
MDOT said lane reductions will be necessary for pavement striping, concrete barrier relocation, and the actual shifting of traffic itself. A minimum of one lane will be maintained at all times.
“It is necessary to shift traffic before the weekend due to the rapidly deteriorating driving surface of the northbound bridge and while it is an inconvenience to drivers to do this during the week, the affect to traffic is much greater when lane closures are required for frequent emergency repairs on the northbound side,” MDOT said in a statement released Wednesday.
Crews will start removing the remaining portion of the original bridge after the traffic shift.
The southbound side of the bridge was shut down to traffic in February when MDOT launched the $200 million construction project. The project includes replacing all of the concrete on the I-75 Rouge River bridge, the largest concrete surface in the state of Michigan, according to MDOT.