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

[Detroitnerd]

That's right... it's like one huge roundabout [[interwoven into the interchange) with both freeway service drives entering and exiting the circle.

Dude, that is not a service drive. It's more like a disservice drive.

[Ray1936]

I never thought about service drives until I read this thread. Here in the Las Vegas valley, none of the freeways [[I-15, I-215, I-515/US93) have service drives or frontage roads at all. Not a one.

Used to write a lot of stop sign tickets on the southbound Lodge service drive at the Forest exit. Wonder if that stop sign is still there [[before you reach the exiting traffic)?

[Detroitnerd]

Used to write a lot of stop sign tickets on the southbound Lodge service drive at the Forest exit. Wonder if that stop sign is still there [[before you reach the exiting traffic)?

That stop sign has terrible sight lines. And traffic coming off the highways is so fast and thick it sort of helps to roll that one when it's timed right.

Now there is a cut to the left that sends you toward the freeway ramp and back up to Warren, and a normal curb for going forward or making a left onto Forest. And when it comes to who has right-of-way on lights at the cut or the left turn [[or the traffic coming on the westbound lanes on Forest) I have no idea who goes first, I must admit.

You'd have made a mint off me, Ray!

[PeterhuntPrincess]

That stop sign has terrible sight lines. And traffic coming off the highways is so fast and thick it sort of helps to roll that one when it's timed right.

Now there is a cut to the left that sends you toward the freeway ramp and back up to Warren, and a normal curb for going forward or making a left onto Forest. And when it comes to who has right-of-way on lights at the cut or the left turn [[or the traffic coming on the westbound lanes on Forest) I have no idea who goes first, I must admit.

You'd have made a mint off me, Ray!

I've been making that turn for the past ten years, and I really just figured out who the stop sign was for... I was stopping on either side of the divide, looking, and waiting. Its even worse when coming from the east into that intersection. I have enraged plenty of communters im sure, lol.

[Ray1936]

I'll be darned. I just Googled it. The stop sign is still there. Only there used to be an alleyway there to the right where we'd park and wait for someone zipping through the sign.

[Ray1936]

LOL, nerd! Actually, it seems as though the dang thing should really be a "Yield" sign, but I don't recall they had those yet back in the early 60s.

Geez, that was a nostalgia trip, for sure.

[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.

[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

[Brian1979]

The Ford Freeway was only built to handle so much traffic. It is handling almost double the capacity that the freeway was built to handle. Another lane in each direction will increase the capacity to somewheres near the traffic volumes that travel on that stretch of freeway. Honestly an eight lane freeway is still probably too little, this stretch of freeway needs to be at least 10 lanes wide with five lanes in each direction. How can anyone possibly argue that a six lane freeway running through a metro area of close to 5 million people is wide enough to handle the traffic flow?

[Augustiner]

How can anyone possibly argue that a six lane freeway running through a metro area of close to 5 million people is wide enough to handle the traffic flow?

It depends why you think Midtown Detroit exists. If you think it exists to move cars from one end of it to the other as quickly and efficiently as possible, then it's pretty hard to argue that. But if you think it exists to be a city neighborhood where people live, then traffic flow should be a secondary concern. I don't think it's worth knocking a bunch of people's houses down so that traffic can flow through there better; as far as I'm concerned, the commuters can either allow the extra five minutes to get through the congested part, or hop off the expressway and find an alternate route.

[Brian1979]

It depends why you think Midtown Detroit exists. If you think it exists to move cars from one end of it to the other as quickly and efficiently as possible, then it's pretty hard to argue that. But if you think it exists to be a city neighborhood where people live, then traffic flow should be a secondary concern. I don't think it's worth knocking a bunch of people's houses down so that traffic can flow through there better; as far as I'm concerned, the commuters can either allow the extra five minutes to get through the congested part, or hop off the expressway and find an alternate route.

This would effect more than just midtown, it's proposed to run from the Jeffries to Connor that is about a seven mile stretch, the proposal is to level the hills that currently come down from the service drive to the freeway itself and build a retaining wall there in it's place adding one more lane in each direction. I can't think at the present moment of the lane configuration's on the service drives but would it really be knocking down homes if this was to happen? I already explained how the two lanes of freeway would be added. And hopping off the expressway and finding an alternate route is a lot of times easier said than done, if they would retime the lights along the major arteries like Woodward, Grand River, Gratiot, Michigan and Jefferson then the traffic flow would be allowed to move and those alternate routes would be easier to use, also you have travelers who aren't familiar with Detroit and those alternate routes aren't really known to out of towners.

[Hermod]

It depends why you think Midtown Detroit exists. If you think it exists to move cars from one end of it to the other as quickly and efficiently as possible, then it's pretty hard to argue that. But if you think it exists to be a city neighborhood where people live, then traffic flow should be a secondary concern. I don't think it's worth knocking a bunch of people's houses down so that traffic can flow through there better; as far as I'm concerned, the commuters can either allow the extra five minutes to get through the congested part, or hop off the expressway and find an alternate route.

As it developed, Detroit has always had crosstown traffic problems. Even the crosstown streetcar system had to run through zig-zag routes. The Davison and the Ford expressways were built solely to relieve the crosstown congestion. Everything in Detroit doesn't flow on the radial streets.

[Brian1979]

It's not only in Detroit that I-94 needs to be widened. Here is the lane configuration for I-94 in the State of Michigan:

Lane configurations

• Between Interstate 196 and Indiana state line [[3 lanes on each side — a 4th lane was added westbound in 2006 between Exit 30 and Exit 29
• Between just west of Exit 74 [[US 131) and Exit 34 [[Interstate 196) [[2 lanes on each side)
• Between Exit 76 and just west of Exit 74 [[US-131)[[will extend to exit 78 when project is completed in 2011) [[3 lanes on each side)
• Between just west of Exit 167 [[Baker Rd.) and Exit 76 [[2 lanes on each side)
• Between Exit 171 [[M-14) and just west of Exit 167 [[Baker Rd.) [[3 lanes on each side)
• Between Exit 180 [[US 23) and Exit 171 [[M-14) [[2 lanes on each side)
• Between Exit 198 [[Detroit Metropolitan Airport) and Exit 180 [[US-23) [[3 lanes on each side)
• For Exits 199 [[Detroit Metropolitan Airport/Middle Belt Road) and 198 [[Merriman Road) [[2 Local + 3 Express Lanes each side)
• Between Exit 243 [[23 Mile Rd.) and Exit 198 [[3-4 lanes on each side)
• Between Blue Water Bridge and Exit 243 [[23 Mile Rd.) in Chesterfield Township, MI [[2 lanes on each side)

I would say the part that runs between M-14 and US 23 on the southside of Ann Arbor is in major need of upgrading. Where is it ever 4 lanes between 23 Mile and exit 198 though? This would include the city of Detroit.

[One Shot]

Big name contractors will be pushing hard for this project. Greased pockets and fudged numbers help too. Oh and all the local people that will be put to work building.
And when it's done the people that are left here will have a pretty road to cruise on, still have little money in their pockets and the same fundamental problems that plague the area. But at least the big guys scored those bids!

[Gistok]

The problem with adding lanes to I-94 by putting up a cement wall barrier [[similar to the Lodge/US10) north of McNichiols, is that trucks carrying hazzardous/explosive materials will NOT be allowed to use the freeway [[just like those US10 trucks have to exit at the Wyoming exit). This causes logistical problems for these vehicles. On the otherhand, it may be the reason why part of the I-94 expansion plan includes service drives along the entire expansion route.

[Brian1979]

McNichols and US 10? To any Detroiter I've ever talked to it's Six Mile and the Lodge and US 10 hasn't come anywheres near Detroit in almost 30 years.

But anyways, like Hermod said the Ford which was built before the Interstate Highway System was built to relieve crosstown traffic congestion as was the Davison. The Davison was rebuilt in the mid-90's, the Ford Freeway was built in the 1940's and 1950's and it shows in many areas, it's an outdated freeway and needs to be upgraded. I really can't believe anyone would be against this.