GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Plans by the Michigan Department of Transportation to close the northbound lanes of US-131 at 28th Street for the weekend have been put off for a week.
MDOT sent out notice late Tuesday that contractor delays forced the delay.
The original plan was for the northbound lanes of US-131 to be closed from 28th Street to Burton Street from 9 p.m. Friday, March 2, to no later than 5 a.m. Monday, March 5. Then the same weekend schedule would affect the southbound lanes of US-131 from Burton Street to 28th Street the following weekend.
Now the schedule is to close the northbound lanes March 9-12 and the southbound lanes March 16-19.
The freeway closure is planned so that repairs an be made for the bridges that carry US-131 over Plaster Creek. The northbound and southbound lanes at that point carry more than 120,000 vehicles a day on average. Fewer vehicles use the bridges on the weekend.
The closure is required because the process being used for the repairs requires no vibration on the bridge as it's being worked on. A system using jacks will be used the lift the bridges enough to allow the alignment of bearings under the deck, MDOT spokesperson John Richard told FOX 17.
MDOT's recommended detour route for through traffic takes you west on M-6 to I-196, then east to downtown Grand Rapids to return to northbound US-131.
