Login‘Flex lanes’ expected to open in the coming months on I-96 in Oakland County
By Anne Snabes The Detroit News
The Michigan Department of Transportation is hoping to open the new “flex lanes” on Interstate 96 between Kent Lake Road and Interstate 275 in Oakland County in late February or early March, according to an agency spokesperson.
The “flex lanes” are part of the $269 million I-96 Flex Route project. Once completed, it will allow motorists to drive on the inside shoulder of eastbound I-96 from 6-9 a.m. and the inside shoulder of westbound I-96 from 3-7 p.m., which are peak times, said Diane Cross, a spokesperson for MDOT.
The project also is adding traffic lights in entrance ramps that will tell motorists when to merge onto the freeway.
Cross said the average daily traffic through that stretch of I-96 is 160,000 cars, and she noted that more crashes occur during the morning and afternoon rush than other times.
“If we can control the traffic getting onto the freeway ― we can give you an extra lane to use during just the busiest times, we hope to really reduce those numbers,” she said.
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MDOT had to widen some of the inside shoulders of I-96, and it rebuilt the roadway. Cross said the project’s construction was completed in early November, and motorists have been driving on the roadway. However, the shoulders that will serve as “flex lanes” and the traffic signals in entrance ramps aren’t operational yet.
Electronic signs on I-96 will show either a red X, which means you can’t use the left shoulder, or a green arrow, which means you can use it. She said professionals are currently testing the electronics.
Cross said that when a flex lane is open, someone needing to move to the side of the road should pull over to the right shoulder and not the left one.
Traffic lights were also installed in entrance ramps along this stretch of I-96. There will be two lanes in the entrance ramps, and each will have a traffic signal, which will tell motorists to start merging onto the freeway or to stop and wait.
The added lanes on I-96 in western Oakland County are similar to the existing flex lanes on U.S.-23 in Washtenaw County between M-36 in Whitmore Lake and M-14 on the north side of Ann Arbor. That flex lane route is currently being extended from Whitmore Lake to I-96 in Brighton in Livingston County to relieve rush hour congestion on U.S.-23.
When asked about the “flex lanes,” Novi Council Member David Staudt said anything that moves traffic better is “good to me.”
“You have to have faith in in their engineering people to hope that what they’re doing is worthwhile to spend the money on and that residents and the drivers will benefit from it,” he said.
He said that because of projects on I-96, I-696 and I-275, Novi has been “surrounded by construction.” Streets in the city have also been under construction.
“It has been a really tough time for Novi residents,” he said.
The MDOT spokeswoman said the two years of highway reconstruction will have a lasting impact on Oakland County.
“MDOT has made a great deal of investment in our MDOT roads in Oakland County which will last for decades,” Cross said.
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