I have a rant, which I have not done before [[at least not here). As a life-long Downriver [[-ite, -Rat, whatever) who has been working at DMC's central campus since 2001, I can't for the life of me figure out WHY I am being forced to travel I-75 if I want to cross the Rouge River, which I must, in order to get home. First, the planned 2-year closing of the Fort Street Bridge [[now post-poned even further until April of this year). Then, shortly after that the drunken accident with the Jefferson Bridge [[which doesn't look like it will be repaired at all) and now the Dix Bridge is closed as well. Last week, a chunk of the roadwork on the I-75 overpass needed emergency repairs as well. How in the world does this perfect storm come about?!? I have emailed MDOT and my congressman to complain and I got platitudes about all the roads needing repairs. Well, no shit! I have always enjoyed the back-roads journeys from Midtown to Downriver [[especially Jefferson along the river) and now I think that may be a thing of the past. I don't like the freeway, never have. More to the point, I feel as if MDOT has all but written off the Downriver communities. Did anyone not look at a map when they were planning this stuff? And why in the hell does the I-75 Rouge River Bridge need emergency repairs, anyway? It hasn't been that long since that stretch of road was closed for a major overhaul. [[4 or 5 years ago, maybe?) At any rate, a large chunk of metro Detroit is being systematically cut off from the core and nobody seems to care but me! One of the perks of living Downriver USED TO BE traffic was not nearly as bad as the commutes to the Western and Northern suburbs, not any more, it has become a nightmare. My commute is just under 19 miles one way, and sometimes it takes over an hour! I am royally frustrated and ticked off and now I have to go because I have a 4:45 appointment in Wyandotte and its snowing and I'm not sure 45 minutes is enough time for what should be a 20 minute drive! We may need to consider ferry boats across the Rouge!