A map outlines the extent and segments of the Restore 94 project.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – Representatives from the Michigan Department of Transportation and HNTB Corp., an infrastructure company, answered questions about the Restore 94 project Feb. 3 in the Allen Park Public Services building conference room.
A second public open house will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at Taylor City Hall, 23555 Goddard Road.
Restore 94 will repair 12.7 miles of I-94 between I-275 to west of the Michigan Avenue interchange, and will span Romulus, Taylor, Allen Park, Dearborn Heights, Melvindale and Dearborn.
Work has already begun at the Ecorse Road interchange clearing and removing trees during the winter months to prevent disturbing nesting sites of the endangered northern long-eared bat in the spring.
The bats, which provide insect control that benefit agriculture, have become endangered from a fungal disease and through collisions with wind turbine blades.
The eastbound lanes of I-94 will be worked on first, with two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes established in the current westbound I-94 roadway, separated by a temporary concrete barrier. Construction will continue year-round, with no pauses during the winter months.
Michigan Department of Transportation Assistant Construction Engineer Matt Hickman (left) and HNTB Corp. Resident Engineer Marc Ledent answer questions during a Restore 94 informational open house Feb. 3 in the conference room of the Allen Park Department of Public Services building.
MDOT Assistant Construction Engineer Matt Hickman said the reason the existing eastbound lanes will be worked on first is because the I-94 eastbound bridge over Beech Daly Road is not wide enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic, so that bridge needs to be rebuilt before traffic switches over to that side of the freeway.
He said the traffic shift will likely begin in late summer, depending on the weather and crossover construction progress.
Interchange ramps will be closed for up to eight weeks, with the exception of the I-94/Ecorse Road ramps, which will be closed longer and detoured.
Intelligent transit system upgrades will be implemented throughout the targeted section of I-94.
Hickman said it is important to understand the difference between reconstruction and rehabilitation.
“This should not be misunderstood as full reconstruction,” he said. “The western side of the project, from I-275 to Telegraph, is a full reconstruction, with a new Ecorse interchange, new bridges at Inkster and Middlebelt and all new ramps at Merriman and Wayne.”
Hickman said that east of Telegraph Road, the work is rehabilitation, which is fixing what is already there.
“There is a lot of concrete patching work that takes place, and we perform on westbound what’s called an inlay, where you take the concrete out and put it right back,” he said. “You don’t dig, you don’t do new stone, no new drainage measures, nothing underneath the pavement itself.”
The first segment of work, from Wayne Road to Middlebelt Road, will partially reconstruct the Wayne Road eastern ramps, as well as ramps at Vining, Merriman and Middlebelt roads. Two bridges will be rehabilitated.
The second segment, from Middlebelt to Beech Daly, will include a new traditional interchange with signalized ramps at Ecorse Road, with Ecorse Road reconstruction within the interchange to add new turn lanes.
New east and westbound I-94 bridges will be built over Inkster and Ecorse roads, and a wider replacement bridge will be built over Beech Daly.
Attendees and representatives look at a map of the Restore 94 project during an informational open house the afternoon of Feb. 3 in the conference room of the Allen Park Department of Public Services building.
Hickman said the left side merge lane will be eliminated as part of the redesign of the Ecorse Road interchange.
“New geometrics that allow for a traditional interchange will go in with ramps regulated by traffic signals,” he said. “That left lane entry – gone.”
Segment three work, from Beech Daly to Pelham Road, will include concrete repairs and patching to the I-94 roadway and the Telegraph Road ramps. In addition, median cable barriers will be installed.
Segment four work, from Pelham to Oakwood Boulevard, will reconstruct and repair the I-94/M-39 Southfield connecting ramps, the Pelham and Van Born Road ramps, and the Oakwood Boulevard ramps.
Seventeen bridges will be rehabilitated during segment four.
Segment five, the I-94/Schaefer Road interchange, which serves as an entrance to Gate 10 at the Ford Rouge Plant, will replace and widen the bridge at the interchange, will reconstruct and widen the roadway on both sides of the bridge, and will repair two nearby railroad bridges.
Dan’s Excavating is the prime contractor and HNTB is one of the consulting engineering companies on the project.
HNTB Resident Engineer Marc Ledent said drivers will need to be patient during the roadwork.
“No one likes when we start reconstructing a roadway,” he said. “We are going to make sure we maintain access throughout the corridor: There’s going to be two lanes in each direction, and the interchanges we are going to stage in such a way that you will always have access to the airport, you’ll always have access to Ford Rouge Gate 10, and throughout the project we will stage ramps so that there is a good detour and you’ll never have to go six miles down the road to get off the freeway and work your way back.”
The work is expected to be completed in mid-2029, and its $353 million cost is made possible through federal and state funding.
Project information is available at Restore94.com.