ZEELAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, July 15, 2024) – A $17 million, four-and-a-half mile rebuild of Business 196, a four-lane divided highway between Holland and Zeeland, is apparently ahead of schedule.
On Wednesday, from 9 AM to 3 PM, contracted crews from the Michigan Department of Transportation are slated to be moving barrels and other traffic control apparatus from the eastbound lanes to the westbound lanes, between 88th Avenue and US-31. This wasn’t supposed to happen until August, according to MDOT’s John Richard of the Grand Rapids regional office overseeing this project.
Detour signs will also be in place through Zeeland, taking traffic along Washington Avenue, Chicago Drive and Lakewood Boulevard to US-31.
In mid-April, work began on an overhaul of the roadway that has been virtually the same since it was constructed about five decades ago. A November 12th target date for completion is still in place, although weather conditions could push it back to Thanksgiving or perhaps beyond.
This continues a series of rebuilds conducted by MDOT over the past five years along the Lakeshore, including the redoing of I-196 in both directions from Grandville through Saugatuck. Also slated to run through Thanksgiving is the construction of a roundabout that will reconfigure the junction of Cedar Street, Jenner Drive and Marshall Street in Allegan, where M-89 and M-40 merge.
An online link to all of MDOT’s construction updates is here.
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