(WWJ) A familiar sign of spring in metro Detroit: Bright orange barrels are popping up all around.
Drivers will find plenty of them along I-94 this weekend, when a section of the freeway will be completely closed.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, contract crews will be demolishing the Brush Street overpass starting at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 12 (weather permitting). The demolition will require closing I-94 between I-75 and M-10, the Lodge Freeway, through the weekend. All lanes of I-94 are expected to reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, April 15.
During this closure, MDOT says westbound I-94 traffic will use southbound I-75 and westbound I-96 to go back to westbound I-94. The northbound and southbound M-10 ramps to westbound I-94 will remain open. All entrance ramps to westbound I-94 will be closed from Mt. Elliot to John R. Street and will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.
I-94 traffic will use eastbound I-96 and northbound I-75 to go back to eastbound I-94. The eastbound I-94 ramps to northbound and southbound M-10 will remain open for local traffic. All entrance ramps to eastbound I-94 will be closed from 30th Street (west of Warren Avenue) to M-10 and will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.
Beginning Friday night, the northbound and southbound I-75 ramps to westbound I-94 will remain closed for the duration of the bridge replacement. The ramp closures are needed for safety reasons due to their proximity to Brush Street. The northbound and southbound I-75 ramps to westbound I-94 are expected to reopen in November.
The bridge replacement is part of the I-94 modernization project in Detroit that involves rebuilding seven miles of freeway and replacing 67 bridges between Conner Road and I-96.
While work continues, from Detroit’s east side all the way to I-275, MDOT's Rob Morosi says total closures and lane reductions will hamper travel to downtown Detroit and to Detroit Metro Airport.
Morosi told WWJ Newsradio 950 they'll be keeping as many lanes open as possible during the workweek, but weekends will be a different story. He advises anyone whose plans may included a festival, concert or ballgame in Detroit to plan ahead and investigate some alternate routes.