The Michigan Department of Transportation is easing travel this Memorial Day weekend.
It is removing lane restrictions on nearly 73 percent of its road and bridge projects statewide to ease traffic delays for travelers, according to a news release.
AAA Michigan estimates more than 1.3 million people from Michigan are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, a nearly 5 percent increase from the 2017 holiday and the most in more than a decade.
Beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and continuing until 6 a.m. Tuesday, 89 out of 122 projects statewide will have lane restrictions removed. While motorists will see suspended operations in most MDOT construction zones for the weekend, drivers are advised that equipment and certain traffic configurations, like temporary shifts or shoulder closures, may remain in place.
In central Michigan and the thumb area, there are six projects that will remain active or have lane restrictions through the weekend:
• Stewart Avenue in Flint will have one lane open in each direction between M-54 and James O. Cole Boulevard;
• I-69 in Flint has two lanes open in each direction on the eastbound roadway from I-75 to I-475;
• I-75, Bay County, has one southbound lane closed at Salzburg Road to accommodate emergency bridge repairs;
• M-20 in Midland, Midland County, has one lane open in each direction on the bridge over the Tittabawassee River;
• M-46, Saginaw County, will be closed and detoured between Orr Road and Hemlock Road; and
• M-46 in Port Sanilac, Sanilac County, is closed and detoured from M-25 to Whitney Drive.
If necessary, detour routes will be posted at the project location.
For more information, contact MDOT Bay Region Communications Representative Jocelyn Hall at (989) 245-7117. Follow the Bay Region on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDOT_Bay.
For up-to-date information on MDOT projects, view the list of statewide lane closures on the Mi Drive website at www.michigan.gov/drive.