LIVONIA, Mich. (WXYZ) — There's light at the end of the tunnel for one of metro Detroit's biggest highway projects.
The Michigan Department of Transportation hit a major milestone in the M-14/I-96 Reconstruction Project that started in May 2024. Westbound I-96 traffic, between Levan Road and I-275, shifted back onto the brand-new completed concrete around 5 a.m. Friday morning with only the left lane being closed.
Watch Ryan Marshall's video report below:
Traffic is freely flowing on both sides of the highway just in time for the Friday morning rush. MDOT originally began two-way traffic through this busy stretch of I-96 several months ago in March. The eastbound lanes previously had two lanes of traffic going in each direction, which created a nightmare for motorists particularly during rush hour.
"I deal with it every day," said Wyandotte resident Anthony Piasecki, who works daily in Livonia installing residential windows. "It kind of makes me happy that we’re really close to being fully finished cause it’s been a while now. And it’s making my traffic so much slower being on the road every day. But I mean, you kind of just have to deal with it as it goes.”
The highway traffic shift is not the only significant milestone in this project. MDOT says the Newburgh Road entrance ramp to westbound I-96 will open. Additionally, the westbound I-96 ramp to northbound I-275 will have both lanes open and the westbound I-96 ramp to southbound I-275 will open as well.
The entire reconstruction project is slated to finish at the end of the year. There's still work to be completed on M-14 just beyond the I-275 interchange in Plymouth.
Canton resident Rashid Badawi says he takes M-14 every day to get home and that it sometimes angers him that his daily commute into Detroit involves constantly dealing with the traffic mess.
"I drive down to Detroit basically every day for work. So yeah, when I get caught in traffic, it can (be)... it’s annoying,” Badawi said. "Honestly, I mean, I use my GPS. And wherever it takes me, it takes me. If the highway is the fastest, I'll take the highway. If not, then I'll take the side streets."
For more information on the current openings and closures with this project, visit MDOT's website.
