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

[EastSider]

They don't need to add a lane in each direction on the eastside. There's no reason that Gratiot couldn't handle more traffic during rush hour. Improve the Gratiot interchange and time the lights so that traffic flows at a steady 40 miles an hour.

I also don't understand the importance of service drives.

[bartock]

They don't need to add a lane in each direction on the eastside. There's no reason that Gratiot couldn't handle more traffic during rush hour. Improve the Gratiot interchange and time the lights so that traffic flows at a steady 40 miles an hour.

I also don't understand the importance of service drives.

Great idea about Gratiot. Once you get past the interchange and on towards Chene, the traffic usually flows.

[Detroitnerd]

I also don't understand the importance of service drives.

So that people can drive brain- and map-free and still get to the end of the road. I find that amusing, in these days of GPSs, that we need continuous service drives all the way across Detroit. Even I-696 doesn't have that. I believe it's only because they regard Detroit as their sandbox to play in, or a blank slate, not a city people live in.

[Hermod]

So that people can drive brain- and map-free and still get to the end of the road. I find that amusing, in these days of GPSs, that we need continuous service drives all the way across Detroit. Even I-696 doesn't have that. I believe it's only because they regard Detroit as their sandbox to play in, or a blank slate, not a city people live in.

Parts of I-696 have service drives [[in some cases, the old "mile" roads).

Service drives seem unique to Michigan. Most other places that i have lived do not have service drives on urban or suburban expressways. The interstate standards do not require service drives.

Looking at it from a design logic perspective, service drives make sense if your exit/entrance points on the expressway are quite close together. They provide a buffer against traffic backing up to exit the expressway and add to the length of the acceleration lane for cars entering the expressway.

[Detroitnerd]

Parts of I-696 have service drives [[in some cases, the old "mile" roads).

Service drives seem unique to Michigan. Most other places that i have lived do not have service drives on urban or suburban expressways. The interstate standards do not require service drives.

Looking at it from a design logic perspective, service drives make sense if your exit/entrance points on the expressway are quite close together. They provide a buffer against traffic backing up to exit the expressway and add to the length of the acceleration lane for cars entering the expressway.

I've heard them called "frontage roads" elsewhere. But you can't really say they're there for acceleration when there's a short ramp. The speeds are set unrealistically low. You're driving along, waiting to get to the freeway entrance, and yet the speed limit is 25 miles per hour.

Hamtramck police have been cleaning up in fines on the NB SD of I-75 thanks to this.

[EastSider]

I've heard them called "frontage roads" elsewhere. But you can't really say they're there for acceleration when there's a short ramp. The speeds are set unrealistically low. You're driving along, waiting to get to the freeway entrance, and yet the speed limit is 25 miles per hour.

Hamtramck police have been cleaning up in fines on the NB SD of I-75 thanks to this.

That speed limit dates back to when Chevy Gear & Axle had plants fronting the service drive north of Holbrook. In fact, there was a truck exit for one of the plants right at the sharp curve before you descend under the train tracks. When the buildings were there, it was a blind spot and great fun to come around the bend to find truck blocking your way.

[Hermod]

I've heard them called "frontage roads" elsewhere. But you can't really say they're there for acceleration when there's a short ramp. The speeds are set unrealistically low. You're driving along, waiting to get to the freeway entrance, and yet the speed limit is 25 miles per hour.

Hamtramck police have been cleaning up in fines on the NB SD of I-75 thanks to this.

Even frontage roads, most places do not have them. The Washington DC Beltway and I-95 through Richmond and Petersburg and I-95 through West Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami are totally devoid of frontage roads/service drives.

I have seen frontage roads in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

[Detroitnerd]

That speed limit dates back to when Chevy Gear & Axle had plants fronting the service drive north of Holbrook. In fact, there was a truck exit for one of the plants right at the sharp curve before you descend under the train tracks. When the buildings were there, it was a blind spot and great fun to come around the bend to find truck blocking your way.

There is still an exit, but it's from a parking lot. I see cars coming out, probably executives. Funny how they never look anybody in the eye now that they're moving all those jobs to Mexico.

[Jimaz]

There's more about Michigan service drives at Wikipedia.

[Gistok]

I-696 has a service drive from Lahser to Evergreen [[11 Mile Rd.), and then continuously from Coolidge on eastward... all the way to where it ends at I-94 in St. Clair Shores. It even meanders around the I-696/I-75 interchange, and wends its' way from 10 to 11 Mile Rd. near Dequindre.

[Detroitnerd]

I-696 has a service drive from Lahser to Evergreen [[11 Mile Rd.), and then continuously from Coolidge on eastward... all the way to where it ends at I-94 in St. Clair Shores. It even meanders around the I-696/I-75 interchange, and wends its' way from 10 to 11 Mile Rd. near Dequindre.

I was heading east on the service drive from Woodward and found that it does not go right along the freeway. I wound up somewhere around I-75 between Nine and 10 mile roads.

[Gistok]

I also don't understand the importance of service drives.

You would if you saw that most dreaded construction sign... "2 LEFT LANES CLOSED AHEAD".

[Bearinabox]

I was heading east on the service drive from Woodward and found that it does not go right along the freeway. I wound up somewhere around I-75 between Nine and 10 mile roads.

The eastbound 696 service drive curves into the southbound I-75 service drive. To keep going east on the 696 service drive, you have to take a turnaround onto the northbound 75 service drive, which then curves back into eastbound 696. There are underpasses for the two I-75 service drives that serve the same purpose. It's kind of weird.

[Gistok]

The eastbound 696 service drive curves into the southbound I-75 service drive. To keep going east on the 696 service drive, you have to take a turnaround onto the northbound 75 service drive, which then curves back into eastbound 696. There are underpasses for the two I-75 service drives that serve the same purpose. It's kind of weird.

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

[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)?

[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.

[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!

[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.

[313WX]

It is a very strong indicator that something is wrong when people avoid I-94 for 4 hours a day because the speed is 0-20mph, and instead opt for Warren, Gratiot, etc. That indicates it is the road and not the particular region [[aka Manhattan).

And it is the only freeway in Metro Detroit that is as ridiculous on a daily basis.

Perhaps because the Macomb County & Grosse Pointe suburbanites are too good to drive through Detroit's "ghettohoods."

The problem is not enough people opt for Gratiot, Warren, etc. I've have personally drive to Macomb County & Grosse Pointe just as fast on those streets numerous times from downtown

[313WX]

Once again, try driving it [[on the Eastside) during rush hours.

Oh, I have more than you think [[I live on the eastside and commute to/from downtown), so I know what I'm talking about.

[MikeM]

Perhaps because the Macomb County & Grosse Pointe suburbanites are too good to drive through Detroit's "ghettohoods."

The problem is not enough people opt for Gratiot, Warren, etc. I've have personally drive to Macomb County & Grosse Pointe just as fast on those streets numerous times from downtown

There are [[or were) plenty of suburbanites on the parallel streets. Giving Chrysler Kercheval, Charlevoix, and Vernor forced a lot of them onto the expressway, and the condition of the surface streets in the past few years has also. My wife usually takes Mack to work and Jefferson back but the pot holes, lane closures, poor signal timing, make it worse than driving I-94.

[Mackinaw]

What are you even talking about 313Wx? You're mischaracterizing traffic patterns to enable a needless slam on Detroit's neighbors, who by most accounts avail themselves of the more obvious choices of Jefferson or Charlevoix for getting downtown.

Anyway, the traffic ain't that bad, sorry. To the extent it is, just recall that you're passing through the central quandrant of a city of a million and a region of 4 million and no matter how disperse it is it's gonna be busy sometimes. Perhaps some transit options rather than another lane via a boondoggle project executed at the behest of the construction industry would cure that. Trust me, that extra lane will not stop the usual slow-downs.

[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.

[EastSider]

Originally Posted by EastSider
I also don't understand the importance of service drives.

You would if you saw that most dreaded construction sign... "2 LEFT LANES CLOSED AHEAD".

"Cute" little winky face notwithstanding, I don't see how service drives help in that instance. It simply spreads the backup from the freeway into the surrounding neighborhoods more easily. Witness construction on the eastern part of 696.