One of metro Detroit’s busiest freeway segments is about to close for eastbound drivers and stay closed until — don’t hold your breath — late 2027.
It’s part of a mammoth multi-year project called “Restore the Reuther.” The eastbound lanes of Interstate 696, also called the Walter P. Reuther Freeway, are scheduled to close in Oakland County on March 1 between Lahser Road in Southfield and I-75 in Royal Oak.
The following detour will be posted: Eastbound drivers who want to get past Lahser, and that will be tens of thousands of them each day, will be directed to start the detour as they approach Telegraph Road, well before they reach Lahser. Motorists on westbound I-696 will be sent south on the Lodge Freeway to the Davison, next go east on the Davison Freeway, and finally reach I-75 and be able to head north to reconnect with eastbound I-696, said Diane Cross, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
“Westbound will always be able to go west. There is no detour for westbound 696. We will shift westbound traffic on the freeway” as work proceeds on the project while allowing those drivers to keep going, Cross said. Both eastbound and westbound sides of the freeway will be reconstructed, but only the eastbound traffic will be detoured, she added. As for eastbound drives not taking the detour, they will still be able to at Telegraph or Lahser.
Beginning on approximately March 1, eastbound traffic on I-696 from Lahser to Dequindre will have a detour as part of the Restore the Reuther project. Westbound traffic won’t be affected.
This 9.5-mile stretch of I-696 in the project was built in the 1980s and it’s overdue for major work. The eight-mile stretch from Lahser to I-75 will receive a full reconstruction of the roadway; the 1.5-mile stretch from I-75 to Dequindre will have its pavement patched, she said. At the same time, MDOT will oversee repairs or replacement of 60 bridges along the route, Cross said.
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The construction is expected to include full-scale replacement of landscapes, playscapes, and walking paths on the three-acre plaza that covers the freeway in Oak Park. Orthodox Jewish residents use the plaza for pedestrian access to their homes and synagogues.
Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Huge detour to start March 1 for EB I-696 drivers in Oakland County