This article originally appeared in the Detroit News. Read more here.
Orange barrel season has arrived in Michigan, and motorists will see major projects on a variety of roads across Metro Detroit, including the start of a major restoration of Interstate 94 in Wayne County and continued work on M-14 and I-96.
Workers have been removing trees to make room for a $353 million three-year project on a 13-mile stretch of I-94 in Wayne County. The Michigan Department of Transportation will reconstruct the freeway from east of I-275 to Telegraph Road and plans major concrete repairs between Telegraph Road and the Dearborn/Detroit border.
MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross said two other major projects also will continue this season on the region’s interstates: reconstructing M-14/I-96 between Sheldon Road and Newburgh Road in Wayne County and rebuilding an eight-mile stretch of Interstate 696 in southeast Oakland County. Those roadways are expected to reopen in their normal configurations by the end of the year.
Cross said as projects ramp up this spring, everybody needs to plan accordingly and possibly add more time to reach their destinations.
“We’re all impacted,” she said. “We all drive the same roads. It doesn’t matter your religion, race, politics, or income ― we’re all affected by construction.”
Cross urged drivers to slow down in MDOT work zones and be aware of crews working on the side of the road.
“They are outside in the heat or the cold, with safety vests and hard hats, sometimes only barrels, sometimes concrete barriers that also get hit,” she said.
Meanwhile, the three road commissions in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne are also gearing up for their own road projects, which will also affect the commutes for thousands of drivers.
The Macomb County Department of Roads has more than $70 million in construction projects slated for this season, while Wayne County is planning to spend $55 million on those projects, and the Road Commission for Oakland County has $58 million worth of projects planned, some of which started last year. Some include the rebuilding of Pontiac Trail/Lafayette Street in South Lyon, the reconstruction of some of Little Mack Avenue in Clinton Township and the Allen Road Grade Separation in Woodhaven, which is a multi-year project.
Two Wayne County interstate projects focus on restoration
The I-94 restoration project, called Restore94, will run from east of I-275 to Michigan Avenue at the Dearborn-Detroit border. At a public hearing last month, Matt Hickman, an assistant construction engineer for MDOT, said I-94 is due for a major overhaul after decades of wear and tear.
One aspect of the project involves moving I-94 through a wooded area near Ecorse Road. Over the last several weeks, MDOT has taken down hundreds of trees in the area, and Cross said new trees will be planted along I-94 later in the project.
In the coming months, crews will be building up the shoulders on westbound I-94 between the Dearborn-Detroit border to Telegraph Road and building temporary entrance and exit ramps, which will allow traffic to shift to the westbound side of the road in the summer, Cross said. There will be two lanes in each direction, compared with the normal three.
“There’s going to be major construction going on, so it’ll be a slower go, but we will always have access to the airport,” Cross said.
Currently, motorists can exit I-94 at Middlebelt Road or Merriman Road to get to Detroit Metro Airport. If MDOT needs to work on the Middlebelt ramp, it will keep the Merriman ramp open, Cross said. If it works on the Merriman ramp, the department will keep the Middlebelt one open. Throughout the project, motorists can also take I-275 to Eureka Road, which allows them to enter the airport at its south end.
MDOT is also resuming work on reconstructing M-14/I-96 between Sheldon Road and Newburgh Road. Cross said her agency is going to shift traffic onto the newly built eastbound side of the road.
MDOT has closed the ramps from northbound I-275 to westbound M-14, from southbound I-275 to westbound M-14 and from Newburgh Road to westbound M-14. The agency plans to close the ramp from westbound M-14 to southbound I-275 in the next couple of weeks and close the ramp from westbound M-14 to Sheldon Road on Saturday.
Two eastbound lanes and two westbound lanes of M-14/I-96 will be open during the construction this year. Cross said that by the end of the year, the road will be reopened.
Oakland Co. I-696 project over halfway done
The ongoing reconstruction of an eight-mile stretch of I-696 in Oakland County is already more than halfway done, and the roadway should return to its normal configuration by the end of the year, Cross said. The project will wrap up next year.
Eastbound traffic on I-696 between M-10 and I-75 has been closed since March 2025. In November, westbound traffic shifted to the newly constructed eastbound lanes.
Along the route, entrance and exit ramps are only open at Woodward Avenue, Southfield Road, US-24 or Telegraph Road and M-10/Lahser Road. The ramps from I-75 to westbound I-696 closed in early March, and they will all reopen by early summer.
Cross said the project is on schedule.
74 road and bridge projects planned in Macomb County
In Macomb County, 74 road, bridge and culvert projects are planned this season. That includes the 20 asphalt resurfacing projects and 13 concrete patching projects that comprise the county’s pavement preservation program.
Many roads in Macomb and surrounding counties are in disrepair and have exceeded their lifespan, said Bryan Santo, director of the county’s Department of Roads.
“And that is the result of lack of funding for decades in Michigan,” Santo said.
Last year, the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate took months to reach a road funding package tied to the state budget, eventually passing both after the Oct. 1 constitutional deadline. The budget pours $1.1 billion more annually into road and bridge improvements.
One of the biggest projects in Macomb County is a nearly $13 million plan to reconstruct the William P. Rosso Highway from I-94 to Jefferson Avenue. The road is being moved to facilitate the expansion of the runway at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.
Another project involves reconstructing Carlier Street, Little Mack Avenue between Tullio Street and South Nunneley Road, and South Nunneley Road in Clinton Township. It’s budgeted to cost $2.8 million to $3 million.
In Macomb Township, improvements are also planned for the intersection of 26 Mile and Hayes Road. Santo said a signal will be installed along with turn lanes, both of which the intersection doesn’t have now. The measures will make the intersection safer, he said.
Other projects include a roughly $5 million replacement of the 21 Mile Road bridge over the Salt Slang Gloede Drain in Macomb Township, a roughly $6 million replacement of the deck on the Schoenherr Road bridge over the Red Run Drain in Sterling Heights and the construction of a new roadway (named Broughton Road) from 23 1/2 Mile to 24 1/2 Mile in Macomb Township, which will cost $7 million.
Wayne County targets 17 new construction projects
Wayne County is planning to start and, in many cases, finish 17 new construction projects in 2026. One is the nearly Allen Road grade separation in the Woodhaven area, which will start on March 23 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2028. The project will cost nearly $44 million.
The county also plans to complete several projects, including the $57 million Miller-Rotunda bridge replacement project in Dearborn. Another is the over $12 million project on Oakwood Boulevard between Beech Street and Rotunda Drive in Dearborn.
Dayo Akinyemi, the director of the Wayne County Department of Public Services, said the Oakwood Boulevard project is an amalgamation of reconstruction and resurfacing.
Akinyemi also said the railroad and the vehicular traffic on Allen Road in Woodhaven are at the same level, so when a train is crossing, the vehicular traffic stops.
“And that’s the experience in that part of the county for years and years,” he said.
He said the project will make it so the vehicular traffic will be at a lower grade, or elevation, than the train traffic, hopefully eliminating the congestion that currently occurs at the crossing.
Other major projects in Wayne County include the over $2 million resurfacing of Inkster Road from Cherry Hill to Ford Road in Garden City and Dearborn Heights, as well as the $2.7 million concrete inlay project on Dix Avenue from the Rouge River to Miller Road in Dearborn, which isn’t expected to be completed this year.
Oakland County plans 15 road and bridge projects
The Road Commission for Oakland County is planning to do 15 projects this year. That includes three bridge projects, five culvert projects and the start of a two-year project to pave a gravel road.
The agency will be reconstructing Pontiac Trail/Lafayette Street in the downtown South Lyon area, said Road Commission spokeswoman Cindy Dingell.
“Anytime … you’re downtown in a business district, that’s always difficult, because you’ve got multiple varying factors and impacts to business,” Dingell said. “But this is going to be a project that’s going to address decades of street flooding that’s been happening there as we go in and essentially reconstruct that entire area downtown.”
The project will be on Pontiac Trail/Lafayette Street from Nine Mile on the South Lyon-Lyon Township border to the CSX railroad tracks in South Lyon.
Dingell said the drainage system between Yerkes Drain and Detroit Street will be reconstructed, and new storm sewers will be added to help alleviate the flooding in the area.
She said the road commission wants to start the project in the spring and will finish it this year. As the commission works on the South Lyon downtown area, it will keep one side of the street open and close the other side, Dingell said. There won’t be any side street parking during the project.
The Road Commission for Oakland County also plans to construct a roundabout at the Wixom Road/Wixom Trail/Duck Lake Road/Sleeth Road intersection in Milford and Commerce townships in a $2.2 million project.
Last year, the road commission started a $6.8 million project on Novi Road from Eight Mile in Northville to Nine Mile in Novi. She said the project, which will be completed this year, is a combination of reconstruction and resurfacing, along with safety enhancements.
The commission will also be resurfacing 12 Mile from Orchard Lake Road to Autumn Ridge in Farmington Hills in a $3.4 million project, which will be completed this year, and resurfacing 12 Mile from Novi Road in Novi to Farmington Road in Farmington Hills in a $10.8 million project, which will start this year and end next year.