A Sure Headache For Many Drivers: Kicking Off The Workweek Without I-96
LIVONIA, Mich. (WWJ) - Keep the aspirin handy. The I-96 headaches have only just begun. The ripple effects will be felt on other freeways too, with people finding new alternate routes to work.
WWJ's Charlie Langton, who's out on the roads this morning, is talking with early risers about their commute. He caught up with Ron Cameron, who lives in a hotel just off the closed I-96 freeway near Inkster. "I'm gonna tell em just to grin and bear it, I guess," Cameron said. "That's the only thing ... I don't know what else to say on this thing. This is ridiculous."
Traveling eastbound from Inkster to Telegraph on the Schoolcraft service drive, Langton found the driving very slow with just one lane open. He also spoke with Detroiter Anthony Wilbourne, who got up an hour and a half early for his drive into work. His advice: "It's gonna be a pain for a lot of drivers, especially after a certain time of the day, but if you know your way around the cities, then you should be okay," Wilbourne said.
Adding to the frustration of west side commuters who have to find alternate routes in the wake of the closure of I-96 in Livonia and Redford; the east-west turnarounds from the service drive, Schoolcraft Road, have also been closed by M-DOT, effective today.
"The turnarounds going from either eastbound-to-westbound, or westbound-to-eastbound Schoolcraft; those turnarounds are going to be closed effective Monday - all of them - throughout the entire stretch," Livonia Police Chief Curtis Caid told WWJ Newsradio 950.
Caid expects to have his hands full until commuters are able to figure out how to get from here to there without the Jeffries, which will be totally shut down in both directions between Newburgh and Telegraph roads until sometime in October.
