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JANUARY 22, 2025 Vol. 22, No. 2
Eastbound I-696 to close between I-75 and Lahser for 2 years BY KATHRYN PENTIUK AND MIKE KOURY kpentiuk@candgnews.com, mkoury@candgnews.com
OAKLAND COUNTY — On March 1, the third and final phase of the “Restore the Reuther” project will commence, as eastbound and westbound Interstate 696 between Lahser Road and Interstate 75 will be rebuilt in 2025-2026. In 2027, I-696 between I-75 and Dequindre Road will see improvements such as the rebuilding of the roadway, bridge work and drainage structures. Additionally, 60 bridges will be repaired, including the rebuilding of the Church Street Plaza bridge that contains Victoria Park. During that construction, a walkway detour will be available. The project is expected to be completed by fall 2027. Diane Cross, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation, clarified that westbound traffic will be maintained while eastbound and westbound I-696 will be rebuilt between Lahser Road and I-75. “We’re reconstructing all of the freeway, but one year we will reconstruct the eastbound side and one year the westbound side, but we’re going to always let westbound traffic use the freeway, and we’ll just move them around. We’ll either keep them on the original west while we rebuild east, or we’ll move them to the eastbound side while we rebuild west. West will always have two lanes open,” she explained. Eastbound traffic will be detoured via southbound M-10 (Lodge Freeway/Northwestern Highway), eastbound M-8 (Davison Highway) and northbound I-75 back to eastbound I-696. “But of course, not everybody’s going to use that detour. So therefore, a side effect, unfortunately, for the project, is we’re going to have a lot of eastbound, heavier traffic on the mile roads,” Cross said. “If somebody’s only going to Royal Oak, they are not going to take that detour, they’re going to just jump on a mile road, whether it’s Eight Mile, anywhere up to M-59, depending on where they’re going. Eastbound is going to be the one that’s going to see heavier traffic on local roads for two years and will be detoured for two years,” Cross said.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
The last phase of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s “Restore the Reuther” project is slated to begin on March 1. Eastbound and westbound I-696 between Lahser Road and I-75 is set to be rebuilt in 2025-2026. She added that this is the first time since the highway was constructed nearly 40 years ago that it has seen a total rehab, and with the exception of Interstate 94, it will be another 20 years before this part of the state has another major freeway reconstruction project. “It’s a huge investment for Oakland County,” Cross said. “Yeah, it’s a pain in the neck; we totally get that. We all drive the same roads. We drive them, our families drive them, and we hear about it all the time, but what See ROADWORK on page 8A
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