KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The project to widen I-94 between Lovers Lane and Sprinkle Road was supposed to be finished in November 2022 after three years of construction. Several factors came into play to put off the completion date to this July.
“Right out of the gate, we had a delay, we had to redesign some bridge beams,” says Nick Schirripa, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Southwest Region.
And the pandemic had its effects: “We had lost worker hours to COVID outbreaks. There were whole crews that were down for a month at a time.”
Even cement was hard to get.
The cumulative effect on this multi-year project was a months-long delay.
Now that construction season is back, so are the work crews. That means a new target date for completion.
“We're looking at late July open to traffic for everything: Portage Road, Kilgore Road, the interchange, westbound I-94,” says Schirripa. “All the lanes, all the ramps.”
Meanwhile, down the road, a new three-year project is gearing up on I-94 in Calhoun County.
Between Helmer Road and 17-1/2 Mile Road, “It is a three-year-$160 million investment in 10 miles of I-94. And 17 bridges,” Schirripa explains. “It is big.”
But the disruption to freeway traffic should be minimal, because two lanes will be kept open in both directions, despite traffic being shifted to one side of the freeway.
“I think the big inconvenience is going to come for folks on the local road system who are trying to get over I-94 or under I-94.”
The Capitol Avenue bridge over I-94 will be a major part of the project. Beginning in July, the bridge will close for complete replacement, with Capitol Avenue scheduled to reopen 75 days later.
While the project will take three years and cost a lot, MDOT is actually saving money by combining the repaving and bridge projects into one, multi-year deal, Schirripa notes.
