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Gov Whitmer kicks off road construction with a visit to the I-96 Flex Route

LANSING, Mich. – Marking her first 100 days of her second term and pledge to “fix the damn roads,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited the I-96 Flex Route Project in Oakland County on April 11 to kick-off the road construction season. She was joined by Acting State Transportation Director Brad Wieferich, U.S. Reps Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Haley Stevens, D-Mich. A video news release of the tour and remarks by the group is posted on the Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) YouTube channel.

“Since 2019, MDOT has been able to invest more than $9 billion in trunkline highway program, including the added investments for the governor’s Rebuilding Michigan program,” Wieferich said.

Started in 2022, the three-year project will rebuild a portion of I-96 between Kent Lake Road and the I-275/M-5/I-696 interchange. An active traffic management system or a Flex Lane will be added along the same portion of freeway to improve traffic flow, which will include:

  • Gantries, lane control signs, message boards, cameras, and detection to allow part-time peak-period median shoulder use, provide queue warning and variable speed advisories, and facilitate incident management.
  • Ramp metering at eight entrance ramps to help reduce congestion and improve travel time reliability and safety by breaking up entering traffic groups.
  • Seven crash investigation sites along outside shoulders to provide clearance of incidents.

Funding for this project is made possible by the governor’s Rebuilding Michigan program to rebuild the state highways and bridges that are critical to the state's economy and carry the most traffic. The investment strategy is aimed at fixes that result in longer useful lives and improves the condition of the state's infrastructure.

Governor Whitmer 100 days logo.

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