GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — While many people spent Easter Sunday with their families, road crews were busy in West Michigan setting up orange barrels on northbound US-131 between 28th Street and Burton.
It's all part of MDOT's $6.2 million plan to improve and repair two bridges over Plaster Creek. The project will have a big impact on traffic traveling on US-131 over the next couple of months.
"It's going to be highly disruptive to traffic because we have to you know, detour basically 120,000 vehicles on that stretch. It's the busiest highway in all of Michigan outside of Detroit. So this is going to be very disruptive," said MDOT Communications Representative John Richard.
Northbound US-131 will be completely closed from 28th Street to Burton Street until April 25. Traffic must exit at or before 28th Street (M-11).
Throughout the construction, one lane of northbound US-131 will remain open from Burton Street to Pearl Street. Entrance ramps to northbound US-131 will also be closed from 44th, 36th and 28th streets and Market Avenue. The northbound US-131 exit to Pearl Street will also close during this time.
MDOT suggests the following detours for commuters:
- Head west on M-6 to I-196
- Head east on M-6 to M-37 or I-96
Construction on northbound US-131 is expected to be completed on April 25. After the completion, the work on southbound US-131 will begin and is expected to last about four weeks.
MDOT is calling the project an "extremely necessary fix."
"It desperately needs it. That stretch from basically M-11, 28th Street, all the way down to 196. We've been studying that section for years on the PEL study. It needs a full rebuild," said Richard.
The construction on the two bridges over Plaster Creek will fix joints and rehabilitate the bridges, which still have their original pavement from the 1950s and 1960s.
MDOT says that US-131 needs a full rebuild and modernization, but that is estimated to cost upwards of $500 million. The annual budget for the 13 counties in the "Grand Region" of Michigan is only $100 million.
So, while a full rebuild isn't in the budget, these smaller improvements will have to suffice for the time being.
"We got to keep 131 alive basically until we can fund that full rebuild that full modernization of 131 in downtown Grand Rapids," Richard added.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.