ZEELAND TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Apr. 10, 2022) – If a delay posted to the Michigan Department of Transportation’s MiDrive page is any indication, work on a seven-mile stretch of I-196 between Zeeland and Hudsonville may take way longer than MDOT had initially forecast.
Amidst much fanfare last month, Governor Whitmer’s office announced that the two-year, $66 million project to completely renovate the two eastbound and westbound lanes would begin on April 11th. Over the weekend, that timetable had apparently been pushed back a week, and the project is now slated to start on April 18th.
The work would not only include a complete rebuild of the four lanes in question, but also cuvert replacement, sewer and drainage improvements, and work on bridges spanning 48th and 64th avenues, as well as the Macatawa River. In order to accomplish this, westbound traffic would be diverted to the eastbound lanes in 2022, with a reverse channeling the following year.
Ramps from Byron Road to I-196 in both directions will be closed starting on April 18th, with the direct ramp from east of the junction reopening the following Friday, while the other two ramps (the cloverleaf ramp and the direct ramp from west of the junction) would be blocked off for the duration of the project. Detours will be posted.
According to the MDOT MiDrive site, the 2022 part of this effort is slated to run through October 19th, but with anticipated weather, supply chain and possible organized labor delays that has plagued this and other road reconstruction projects in recent years, motorists may be well advised to expect this year’s work to last through the Thanksgiving holiday.
In recent years, MDOT had rebuilt I-196 from Kenowa Avenue to 32nd Avenue, and from Adams Street to the Blue Star Highway in Douglas, which includes the rest area north of Saugatuck that closed last year and won’t reopen until the end of 2023..
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