It’s been a year of orange barrels and bumper-to-bumper traffic, but work on the U.S. 12 and M51 intersection south of Niles is finally wrapping up.
Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Nick Schirripa says he doesn’t have an exact time when all lanes will reopen but it will happen sometime Wednesday.
"I do have good news," Schirripa said. "We are reopening U.S. 12 and M-51, all lanes thereof."
The $27 million project removed the bridge that carried U.S. 12 over M-51. It was built as a freeway interchange some 70 years ago when traffic there was much heavier, before I-94 was built. In late 2017 as that bridge needed work, MDOT started meeting with local stakeholders on how the interchange should be addressed.
Schirripa notes some drivers will need to get used to making so-called “Michigan left” turns. People turning from 12 onto 51 will drive a bit past the intersection, make a U-turn, merge into traffic and come back to the intersection to make a right turn.
"Getting rid of those direct left turns at the intersection," Schirripa said. "What that does is reduces the number of conflict points across oncoming traffic."
