Traffic Alert: I-75 Widening In Oakland County To Start This Summer
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A highly traveled section of I-75 in Oakland County is going to get bigger, starting this summer.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said during his annual State of the County address Wednesday night that the plan will start with a roughly three-mile stretch in the Square Lake Road area.
Patterson said adding a lane on each side of the highway from 8 Mile Road to M-59 "will have a significant impact on commerce and driver convenience."
"Companies along I-75, like Fiat Chrysler, that support I-75's modernization, will see their employees in a safer commute," he said. "It will give companies along I-75 the ability to move goods more quickly through that corridor; and certainly improve the quality of life by easing some of the worst traffic congestion in our area."
The Michigan Department of Transportation said the long-term project would be completed in phases. The overall plan is to rebuild more than 17 miles of I-75 between South Boulevard and 8 Mile Road. Department spokesman Rob Morosi said a start date for the first phase wasn't available because officials are using a method that lets contractors build as project design continues.
"I-75 is Oakland County's main street. Half of the county's businesses and workforce are located along its corridor," Patterson said. "Making these improvements will have a positive, long-term impact on our businesses and quality of life."
Included in this estimated $127 million investment is the replacement of five bridges, reconfiguring the interchange at Square Lake Road, constructing an additional through-lane in each direction, and making improvements to the Adams Road carpool lot.
The interchange improvements consists of upgrading traffic movements to current design standards. Creating right lane exit and entrance ramps from northbound I-75 to Square Lake Road will address a high-crash location on the freeway.
Despite constructing two new bridges to accommodate the interchange modernization, MDOT says no additional right of way will be necessary as the reconstruction of the freeway will realign northbound I-75 adjacent to the southbound lanes within the existing freeway footprint.
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