Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Upcoming bridge work will require additional lane closures, as well as a full closure for bridge demolition on westbound I-696 in Oakland County.

Starting at 7am Monday, April 21st, to late July, westbound I-696 will have only two lanes open from Southfield to Lahser roads for median work.

Then, starting at 9pm Friday, May 9th until 5am Monday, May 19th westbound I-696 will be closed from I-75 to M-10 while the Church Street plaza bridge is demolished. The extended closure time is required to allow crews to safely demolish 170 concrete beams and clean up debris.

All westbound traffic will be detoured via southbound I-75, westbound M-8 (Davison Highway) and northbound M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to get back to westbound I-696. There will be a local westbound lane with access to Bermuda Street, M-1 (Woodward Avenue) and Coolidge Highway.

The eastbound side of the Church Street plaza bridge will be demolished beginning May 1st for approximately 10 days that will only affect the eastbound side of the freeway, which is already closed.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer said "Across Michigan, we are moving dirt and fixing the damn roads to grow our economy, helping Michiganders go to work, drop their kids off at school and run errands safely. By the end of this construction season, we will have fixed, repaired or replaced nearly 24,500 lane miles of roads and 1,900 bridges, supporting thousands of good-paying, local jobs without raising taxes by a dime. This year, let's build on our momentum to pass a bipartisan local road funding plan so we can keep fixing our damn roads and creating good-paying, local jobs."

The final phase of the Restore the Reuther project involves rebuilding I-696 in 2025-2026, while in 2027, I-696 will have major road work done between I-75 and Dequindre Road. Work includes rebuilding the roadway, bridge work and drainage structures.
As part of the project, 60 bridges will be repaired, including the rebuilding of the Church Street Plaza bridge that contains Victoria Park. During that rebuilding, a walkway detour will be in place.

Next year, westbound I-696 will be rebuilt from I-75 to Lahser Road.

Project information is available in the provided link.