It's Back! I-94 rebuild in Detroit returns

[Rocko]

The suggestion about retiming the lights on Gratiot is a good one. That road is in pretty good shape and makes a direct B-line into downtown from the upper east side....unlike 94 to 75 or whatever route other people use to get downtown. If they retime the lights for inbound traffic in the morning and outbound in the late afternoon, and then make sure TV, radio, and newspaper outlets report on it, it could help. No new infrastructure or demolition necessary And I'm sure the business owners along Gratiot wouldn't complain either.

[Hermod]

The suggestion about retiming the lights on Gratiot is a good one. That road is in pretty good shape and makes a direct B-line into downtown from the upper east side....unlike 94 to 75 or whatever route other people use to get downtown. If they retime the lights for inbound traffic in the morning and outbound in the late afternoon, and then make sure TV, radio, and newspaper outlets report on it, it could help. No new infrastructure or demolition necessary And I'm sure the business owners along Gratiot wouldn't complain either.

I used to commute on Gratiot to downtown from Seven mile Road [[1961).

On a rainy day when traffic seems to jam up worse, I have sat through five changes of the light at Harper.

[Gistok]

I didn't think that this warranted a separate thread, but currently they appear to be rebuilding part of the I-94/I-696 interchange. Some of the bridges were replaced last year, and it looks like more bridge replacement [[or just deck replacement) is happening this year.

The worst pavement of that interchange [[all of it is awful)... is the 1/4 cloverleaf from westbound 11 Mile to Eastbound I-94. That road surface is currently in "3rd World" shape.... and once you get to the bottom of the cloverleaf, you really have to hit the gas in order to not irritate I-94 drivers that have to slow down to let you merge into the right lane.

Well that 1/4 cloverleaf is being re-routed [[per the MDOT engineer onsite) so that it more resembles a "serpentine" curve. That way you will be making sharper turns... but it will give you a longer straightaway at the end of the ramp in order to allow you accelerate for a longer period of time, so you won't slow down traffic.... smart move!

.... now if they would just do something with the Vernier/8Mile entrance ramp to eastbound I-94.... way too many accidents happen when that short curved entrance ramp merges with EB I-94 traffic...

[jsmyers]

There are many federal design standards that simply aren't being met. This also poses a problem with the Feds. FHWA isn't going to approve the release of the federal funds for even major fixes to the current I-94 pavement in that a area without requiring money to be spent on accomplishing those upgrades.

Basically MDOT is left with a choice, either do the complete reconstruction, expansion and modernization or let I-94 crumble because you can't leverage any federal funding for repairs.

This is simply not true. Sub "green book" standard freeways are repaved or rehabbed all the time with federal funds.

This argument it missing the point however, because adding a complete additional lane and creating a full service drive does nothing to meet standards. This is a huge, expensive capacity expansion.

I would support rebuilding the road and doing small things to improve flow. But these massive property takings are unwarranted. Look at this map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...589eaefc3333ea

By extending the on ramps until the next off ramp within the existing right of way, capacity can be slightly increased, and the highway can be made much less harrowing to drive.

For the amount of money that is being proposed, the road could be rehabbed in the existing right of way and a basic commuter rail system could be built parallel to the highway from Mt. Clemens to Ann Arbor.

[jsmyers]

Is the peak traffic on I-94 generally in one direction? When I lived in the Cass Corridor [[05-06) and commuted to Novi, I mostly stayed on the Lodge or was only on 94 for the mile between the Lodge and Jefferies.

If there is one primary peak direction [[i.e. towards Woodward, 75, or the Lodge), then perhaps the existing 6 lanes should be turned into a three-segment highway with 2 changeable-direction express lanes in the middle. This change would require significant rework of the overpasses, but would fit in the existing right of way.

$1.5 billion dollars is a tremendous amount of money. And this project isn't remotely worth it. It hurts Detroit where it hurts the most and wastes money that could be used to build up the region's economy. SEMCOG and MDOT can spend this money on other projects [[they can "flex" the money into almost any other mobility-enhancing surface transportation project). This is not a use-it-or proposition.

Fight it!

Tell the Detroit and state politicians to withhold their match until the project is scaled back to a simple rehab.

Tell them to spend the remainder on regional transit, such as the west Detroit junction that is required to get commuter rail to the west.

Join TRU [[www.detroittransit.org)

[Funaho]

I don't know if anyone else remembers this far back, but when this project was in its first round of public meetings [[maybe around '99 or so) one of the proposed alternatives included making the freeway a LOT wider, with a huge green space in the median for future use by commuter rail. The public rejected that option in favor of the one currently being pushed, as it was cheaper and used a lot less land. I wonder if the result would be different if they asked again today?

[313WX]

Is the peak traffic on I-94 generally in one direction? When I lived in the Cass Corridor [[05-06) and commuted to Novi, I mostly stayed on the Lodge or was only on 94 for the mile between the Lodge and Jefferies.

If there is one primary peak direction [[i.e. towards Woodward, 75, or the Lodge), then perhaps the existing 6 lanes should be turned into a three-segment highway with 2 changeable-direction express lanes in the middle. This change would require significant rework of the overpasses, but would fit in the existing right of way.

$1.5 billion dollars is a tremendous amount of money. And this project isn't remotely worth it. It hurts Detroit where it hurts the most and wastes money that could be used to build up the region's economy. SEMCOG and MDOT can spend this money on other projects [[they can "flex" the money into almost any other mobility-enhancing surface transportation project). This is not a use-it-or proposition.

Fight it!

Tell the Detroit and state politicians to withhold their match until the project is scaled back to a simple rehab.

Tell them to spend the remainder on regional transit, such as the west Detroit junction that is required to get commuter rail to the west.

Join TRU [[www.detroittransit.org)

Both directions [[from commuters heading back to their east & westside homes) are pretty congested...However, it's usually worse east of the lodge in the eastbound direction and worse west of I-75 in the westbound direction.

[jsmyers]

Both directions [[from commuters heading back to their east & westside homes) are pretty congested...However, it's usually worse east of the lodge in the eastbound direction and worse west of I-75 in the westbound direction.

That doesn't sound like it would work to convert to a changeable direction express lanes between the Lodge and the Fisher then. But on either side of those freeways...

[Funaho]

That doesn't sound like it would work to convert to a changeable direction express lanes between the Lodge and the Fisher then. But on either side of those freeways...

I'm not sure dividing up the existing 6 lanes into 2/4 during rush hour would make things much better, overall...it might just spread the congestion around so that BOTH sides suck equally.

I think a lot of the traffic flow issues could be fixed by simply removing all the left entrances and exits, and widening the freeway JUST enough to allow full width shoulders starting all the way back at Michigan Ave. As things are right now if you break down in the left lane, well, better have your will made out.

[jsmyers]

I was back in Detroit last week for work. I got wondering if the state was still insisting on widening I-94 through Detroit, adding a "service" drive, and taking out a number of overpasses.

Seems like a colossal waste of money to me. I actually have a hard time believing that the Enivronmental Impact Statement [[EIS) is still valid considering the number of things that have changed in the last half decade.

If you read my posts up higher, you'll note that there are things that could be done to improve safety and traffic flow without taking a bunch of land -- it is not that I oppose all improvements to the highway.

[iheartthed]

Why on Earth does this freeway need to be widened?

[izzyindetroit]

Why on Earth does this freeway need to be widened?

Because of high traffic volumes and outdated design. I cannot wait for this to get done.

[Paddington]

I take I-94 everyday to work downtown. The segment between I-96 and I-75 is woefully inadequate. Many times I take I-75 South which runs parallel to I-94, and then I-96 to get back on I-94 just to bypass that segment. That of course though is a waste of fuel and adds to I-75's congestion.

That segment if I-94 [[including bordering regions all the way up to Michigan avenue in Dearborn) is inadequate for a number of reasons: too few lanes, too narrow shoulders, tiny and unsafe ramps. It is probably one of the worst, most outdated segments of urban expressway that you will find in America.

[DetroitDad]

Better to be heard and ignored. It lets us know where everybody stands.

Would writing to MDOT or calling do any good? I'd be happy to voice my concerns about this plan if pointed in the appropriate direction. Or are they so apolitical until they don't care about public sentiment?

[DetroitDad]

So long as some sort of fee is put only on those who use it. Will I-94 have now have a usage fare, or will this be subsidized by the tax payers again, in a city where many can't afford to drive?

This will be much more expensive than many proposed public transit projects I would use.

I take I-94 everyday to work downtown. The segment between I-96 and I-75 is woefully inadequate. Many times I take I-75 South which runs parallel to I-94, and then I-96 to get back on I-94 just to bypass that segment. That of course though is a waste of fuel and adds to I-75's congestion.

That segment if I-94 [[including bordering regions all the way up to Michigan avenue in Dearborn) is inadequate for a number of reasons: too few lanes, too narrow shoulders, tiny and unsafe ramps. It is probably one of the worst, most outdated segments of urban expressway that you will find in America.

[DC48080]

So long as some sort of fee is put only on those who use it. Will I-94 have now have a usage fare, or will this be subsidized by the tax payers again, in a city where many can't afford to drive?

This will be much more expensive than many proposed public transit projects I would use.

Using your brand of thinking: I will not use public transit, most especially the magic Woodward choo-choo train that will save Detroit overnight. Therefore, my tax dollars should not pay for it. Will it be entirely funded by those who will use it? Of course not.

[English]

Better to be heard and ignored. It lets us know where everybody stands.

Exactly. When this thread was last up, I was still in school in A2; now I drive that stretch every day. All things considered, it's not bad at all, and if it is, I can always take Warren down to I-96. That's one of the things I love about Midtown -- there's always more than one way to get somewhere.

[Django]

I have no opinion one way or another but I do hear about several accidents a week occuring at 94 at Mt Elliot, almost always during morning rush hour.

I lived one block off 94 between Mt.Elliot and Chene. The house [[actually more of a shack) was bought at auction for $300. The owner wanted $10,000 for it from me. I think he was counting on the freeway being widened. I looked at the plans and the shack was well within the new plans construction area.

Sooo many houses have been burned up and down Medbury and that whole area in general.

I loved that shack. Not for the faint of heart.

[jsmyers]

That segment if I-94 [[including bordering regions all the way up to Michigan avenue in Dearborn) is inadequate for a number of reasons: too few lanes, too narrow shoulders, tiny and unsafe ramps. It is probably one of the worst, most outdated segments of urban expressway that you will find in America.

Those are all perfectly good reasons to widen shoulders and extend ramps. Those are not reasons to take a bunch of property off of the tax roles and out of productive use in order to greatly widen the road, put in a full service drive on either side, and remove a significant number of crossings.

That is like a family with one kid in a 2 bedroom house finding out they have another on the way and therefore deciding that they need to move into a 6,000 sf mansion, instead of adding on a bedroom or moving up to a 3 bedroom home. In other words, the majority of the project that the state has been planning for all of these years is a unproductive waste of money -- even if there is a need to do something smaller.

This is what I think should be done:

WB, starting from I-75:
-extend the merge lane from I-75 to at least the John R, and maybe Woodward underpass
-extend the merge lane from John R all the way to the Lodge exit
-extend the merge lane from M-10 all the way to the I-96 exit
-extend the merge lane from Trumbull to the Grand River exit, at this point the westbound highway would be 5 lanes for a bit more than a third of a mile
-extend the merge lane from Grand River all the way to the merge lanes from I-96
-extend the merge lane from West Grand Blvd all the way to the Livernois exit
-convert the Livernois interchange into a standard diamond design [[This is already planned independently by the state to facilitate truck movements to the intermodal terminals about a mile south of there.)
-extend the Livernois merge lane to the Cecil/Central exit
-connect the frontage street between Central and Casper streets, and then again between St. Lawrence and Lonyo, eliminating the ramp at Lonyo [[not that Lonyo is planned to be eliminated in the vicinity of the railroads about a half mile to the south.)
-extend the Addison exit back at least to the Lonyo overpass

That gets you to Michigan Avenue, where the problems end.

EB, starting from Michigan

-redirect the on ramp from Wyoming to Wier street and combine their entrance, extend this merge lane as far as the traffic micro simulations tell you is very helpful, I'd guess the Lonyo overpass makes sense
-eliminate the Lonyo on ramp, but creating a service drive from Lonyo to the existing service drive at Central
-extend the Cecil on ramp to the Livernois exit to the 30th Street/Warren exit
-extend the 30th on ramp to the West Grand Blvd exit
-re-align the highway and convert the West Grand Blvd exit to a normal right exit
-the West Grand Blvd merge lane already is the I-96 exit, but the ramp could be steepened and shorted to give a bit more room for weaving
-just like on the EB, extend the I-96 ramps to the Lodge and the Grand River ramps to Trumbull, creating a short stretch of 5 lane [[10 total) highway
-eliminate the extra on ramp near the rail overpass
-extend the Lodge on ramp to the John R exit
-alternatively [[for both east and west bound) the Lodge ramps could be extended all the way to I-75, and John R would keep relatively short ramps to the west

I haven't looked as closely at the freeway east of there too far, but from Mt. Elliot west [[both east and west bound) I don't see any need for changes. Remember that if you run into traffic in that stretch, it is due to a crunch further down the road.

Virtually all of the work I described could be done within the exiting right of way. Most of it would require wider underpass clearance. A lot of the green grass on the sloping banks would be lost to retaining walls, partly depending on the extent to which wider shoulders are provided. In addition, virtually all of these projects have independent utility, so they could be done over more time, in phases, if so desired. Ramp metering is also something that could help keep a rush of cars entering the highway from causing the whole thing to cease up.

Another thing that could be done, but at a significantly higher cost, would be to redo the Lodge interchange so there are no left side exits. [[The result would look and function a lot like the I-75 or the I-96 interchanges.) I'm not sure it is worth it, at least not until all of the other things are done. I'd expect that the conversion will eventually happen, but it could be put off a long while.

Another more difficult [[and costly) intervention that would improve traffic flow without adding a lot of capacity would be to partition off a set of express lanes that would operate between I-75 and I-96 crossings. All of weaving and merging would be contained on the right side of a barrier wall, eliminating impacts to the through lanes. Doing this does create capacity because merging movements cause a lot of the congestion delay. Unfortunately, I think it is incompatible with the left exits and entrances at the Lodge.

The challenge of doing this is to fit in wide enough shoulders; it is probably impossible to both make express lanes and have wide shoulders, without taking a lot of land new land. My judgment is that the safety increases of eliminating weaving on 2 lanes in each direction greatly overshadow the gains to be had from wider shoulders. One of the reasons that wider shoulders are desired is so that disabled vehicles don't cause a major blockage. Being proactive about yanking them off the highway can do a lot with respect to preventing non-reoccurring congestion.

I'm not running any calculations, but I bet doing all of the changes that I described in those bullet points would take the project from ~$1.8 billion down to $300-500 million. If you redo the lodge interchange, you can probably add back in about $50-75 million.

Either way, I'm sure some value re-engineering could save the state about a billion dollars. Even if you really love the project as designed, that is money that could be better spent elsewhere [[or not at all). DRIC? Commuter rail? Light rail? High speed rail? I-94 north of Jackson? There are a lot of more deserving projects in my opinion. The fact that something should be done, and the fact that we did other equally stupid or wasteful stuff in the past are not reasons to do it again.

I honestly believe that the current design is not something that MDOT would arrive at if they were starting the project today. It is just too gold-plated and too suburban-centric. It looks like something that would have been hatch 10 years ago, before central Detroit starting to turn around, when we were relatively flush with cash, and before sprawl started to slow. Also, the traffic micro-simulation technology that we have now is a lot better than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Now you can more effectively do what-if scenarios on things like what I've laid out above and not overbuild in a fudge factor of extra capacity just to make sure you solve the problems.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of momentum behind it. There are probably a lot of people who think that we have to build that or start over with a new environmental impact statement [[EIS). I'm pretty certain that the Federal Highway Administration [[FHWA) would quickly sign off on an amendment that would significantly scale back the project. Because parts of the projects have independent utility, and because the state can come up with a few hundred million dollars a lot faster than they can come up with a billion and a half, I'm willing to bet that the project could be completed more rapidly despite any small delays due to changing the scope.

[professorscott]

Excellent post, js, well thought out and comprehensive.

I think Uncle Sugar is reevaluating projects these days because it has spent money like a drunken sailor lately and now must pull back on things. Look at the recently announced changes, which some of us have known about for a while, to the Port Huron customs plaza project. Was supposedly super important to DHS, but now has been scaled back dramatically.

By no stretch of the imagination is a massive widening of I-94 necessary. Detroit doesn't have a rush hour at all by the standards of just about any other big city. Go drive on the Dam Ryan in Chicago at seven in the morning on a weekday if you want to know what a real rush hour looks like. We - city, state and fed - can easily do without such a massive project as was originally proposed.

If I-94 gets redone at all, look for it to be something sensible on the lines of what JSMyers proposes, even if that takes ten brand new Environmental Impact Statements.

[jsmyers]

It is going to take Michigan residents talking to their elected officials to get the project changed.

SEMCOG is led by elected officials in each community that opts in [[and county) in the 7 counties of SE Michigan. So, complaining to your mayor, or county executive is productive, because the project needs SEMCOG's support. Because the project is in Detroit, Mayor Bing and Council President Pugh are probably the most important people to convince.

Communicating with elected officials in Lansing is also effective.

I do, however, think this is a case where moderate, rational arguments are more effective than loud arguments. Most people agree that something should be done. If it becomes a question of all or nothing, I bet it gets built. It the discussions turns into how can we make it a smaller, more cost effective project, then there is a chance for a better outcome.

[izzyindetroit]

It couldn't come soon enough.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011031...xt|FRONTPAGE|p

[JohnnyFreddy]

The Lodge thank you.

The Lodge IS IS IS IS IS ......10....thank you.
Relax. When you're abbr. to numbers, Lodge is 10.

[Proslack]

This freeway should be put in a tunnel between 10 and 75.

Really? Why is that?

[Brian1979]

The Lodge IS IS IS IS IS ......10....thank you.
Relax. When you're abbr. to numbers, Lodge is 10.

Yes the Lodge is 10 just like the Southfield is 39 and the Davison is 8 but Detroiters never call the freeways by numbers, I have never heard a Detroiter call the Lodge M-10 or the Southfield M-39, there the Lodge and the Southfield both of which were known as such before the numbers were placed on those freeways. If you were to say Ford, Chrysler, Ruether, Southfield, Lodge, Davison or Fisher to me I'd know exactly which freeway you are refering to.