I will admit it, I was spoiled by living in Ohio for the first half of my life. A state where the Department of Transportation WILL NOT permit construction on parallel routes. If a major thru highway or roadway is scheduled for construction the bypass routes are not granted permits for anything except a sinkhole or ruptured water main. This is not the same in Michigan, last summer in Macomb county there were only two primary roads available for going north and south, every other north/south route had construction and at certain times of the day the backups approached epic. This year the state has blocked ALL eastbound travel in one of the most heavily traveled commuter routes and they have just announced then will be closing a secondary interstate alternate at the circular bypass around metro Detroit just to insure those west of I75 will be stuck in commuter hell.

Adding to that is that Michigan allows trucks as heavy as 180,000 GVW on our highways and the head of MDOT claims these super heavies are not the reason why a roadway in Michigan only lasts for 5 years before it starts breaking up. I suspect that asshole has over 5 million in various market and bank accounts and you are free to guess why. BTW he claims that it's because the per axle loading is lower and that may be true. However with a truck this heavy the concrete slabs that compose a roadway will actually ROCK on the road foundation and that caused the slabs to get beat up at the expansion joints. Drive in Michigan and you will quickly notice that the expansion joints are quite rough on any road surface more than 5 years old.

Took a road trip last week and was delighted to see that I-75 South was closed completely over the Zilwaukee Bridge. Until the end of June. Then they will close the northbound lanes of the bridge when the southbound project ends. At the peak of tourist season for the northern lower peninsula and the Yoop.
During the trip, I was caught on a secondary road in traffic.... Behind an 8 axle bulk carrier semi trailer. The tractor could barely move it after the rig had to stop at a red signal.
Remember Queen Gretchens oath to "fix the damn roads"? Aint seen it yet!

Oy.

I have kin in Michigan (Mount Pleasant) and used to (more on that in a bit) return every other year or so to visit.

Other than the rare "I've got time, I'll take the scenic route" trip, the plan was 95 South to 90, and 90 West to the Ohio/Michigan border. From there I've tried three major routes North:

M23 North via Ann Arbor, 127 North Via Jackson and even going out of my way to try 69 North to Lansing.

Every. Single. One. was a nightmare either due to road conditions or traffic and usually both. Fer chrissake, even MAINE has better roads than that! I grew up in central Michigan in the 50's/60's and I remember the state being pretty proud of the roads. No more.

As to my biennial trips: Of my 5 brothers, one has passed, two have moved to Arizona, one is a dick and permanently on my shitlist. The remaining one turned 90 in February and I'm 74. We managed a visit a year ago this past September with 3 of us and given our ages and likelihood of traveling long distances chances are that's the last time we'll be together.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Took a road trip last week and was delighted to see that I-75 South was closed completely over the Zilwaukee Bridge. Until the end of June. Then they will close the northbound lanes of the bridge when the southbound project ends. At the peak of tourist season for the northern lower peninsula and the Yoop...

Seriously? I'll be going through there three times in the next few weeks and many more times over the summer to the airports in Flint and Detroit as well as touring UoM and attending a concert in Detroit.

Looking at the map, I'm not seeing a good way to avoid it coming from between Rogers City and Cheboygan. Nuts.

A lesson in geography, much of Southeast Michigan is built atop swampland. Unstable base, add to it the heavyweight trucks, a recipe for disaster.

Interstate 96, we just got “finished”, a from Brighton to Novi three years of construction to add a Flex Lane, sixteen miles or so, it’s additional lane use controlled by MDOT when they determine traffic flow is high.

That just was finished, now MDOT is reconstructing a portion of 96 between Howell and Brighton, including an interchange that is said to be three years in length. Grand River runs parallel to 96, there’s a one mile stretch of it that serves as a safety valve if the expressway is shut down for an accident at the Oakland/Livingston County line that is now shut down for reconstruction also. If you are a local you will probably know a route around if the expressway shuts down, if you’re not, hope you brought a good book and some snacks.

The Zilwaukee Bridge shutdown, they are rerouting traffic through Saginaw on I-475. For “entertainment” go to michiganhighways.org and read up on that bridge, there’s a lot there regarding the construction, the accident while under construction, etc., all to replace a drawbridge that in the end could have been replaced with a much lower structure.

Has the US 23 Flex Lane project in Livingston Co. finished yet? That seems like a never ending clusterfuck!

There seems to have been a memo that was circulated that I missed. And like most memos from this wonderful State Government it's probably full of ideas from Berkeley California.

They seem to think "fixing the roads" doesn't mean actually fixing things, but instead it means to add roundabout projects in rich areas, add carpool lanes that don't get used, add "overflow" lanes that could just be more capacity except they wanted something to control, launch construction projects that last about as long as the road will when they're done, and keep things unchanged so the money keeps rolling in.

Meanwhile if there's a little rain it's goddam pandemonium since you can't see what little paint is on most streets, there is no longer drainage on a ton of surface streets that no longer follow the original lay, there has been no expansion of commuter routes or parallel routes to deal with growing population densities and congestion, we still can't get things plowed or salted well in the winter, we have dirt roads and side streets that continually collapse and are cut and turned over and filled in so the holes can show up in a couple of days again. And we run over them with guys in heavy equipment that take a passable street and turn it into the surface of the moon.

Living in north Macomb, right on the edge of Oakland county

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Has the US 23 Flex Lane project in Livingston Co. finished yet? That seems like a never ending clusterfuck!

Which part? The original part between M-14 to Eight Mile Road which has been done since 2017. Under construction is the portion between Eight Mile north to I-96 at present.

In 2005 a traffic study was performed on US-23 between Ann Arbor and Brighton was handling traffic volumes of 135% of it’s original design.

As a result we get the flex lane. That stretch needs to be three lanes in each direction all the time but not in the eyes of MDOT.

While we are on the subject of MDOT, the newest construction on I-96 between Howell and Brighton sometimes has the expressway down from three lanes in each direction to one lane together with several on and off ramp closures. As a result, traffic is routed to Grand River Avenue, a parallel state highway that was bypassed by the expressway in the early 60’s.

You would think that MDOT would try to adjust the traffic lights along Grand River at least for the next two years (predicted) for this construction.

Nope,nope,nope.

My son lives in St Claire Shores for 3 years, in that time I amassed a lot of trips on 94 from NW Indiana around. Detroit can be a shit show at times. I saw more people driving on rims in those 3 years than in my other 47 years of driving which is split between So Cal and Chicago.

One of our daughters and her ex lived in Grosse Pointe Woods by the area that borders on Harper Woods and Detroit. It was a shitshow every time we went there, 96 to 696 to 94, off at Vernier and down Harper. I hated driving on 94, it was always an adventure.

She tried to talk us into moving over to that area, my answer was “Oh hell no!”

Sounds like they have an Anti-Destination League.

Now Big Gretch wants to spend $20+ million to 'study' a per mile tax.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
Adding to that is that Michigan allows trucks as heavy as 180,000 GVW on our highways and the head of MDOT claims these super heavies are not the reason why a roadway in Michigan only lasts for 5 years before it starts breaking up.

Right after college, I designed custom heavy haul trailers so at the time I knew all of the different state DOT load and axle laws. The smart states were requiring 169" between tri-axle groups for permit (i.e. heavy) loads. Michigan was nuts for allowing axles to fill up that 169", and they were blindly only looking at compression loads while ignoring tension loads. I believe the tension loads is the differentiator tearing up Michigan roads faster.

It's especially bad on asphalt roads, but concrete also sucks in tension (i.e. the reason for rebar). Yes, I agree each axle is putting compression loads on the road surface, and it may or may not be less at each axle (i.e. the first axle will tend to have more load than the 8th axle plus there are other variables such as maintenance on air ride suspension or tire inflation). More importantly, as the axle imparts compression on the road surface it's simultaneously imparting tension over the length of the axle group. If your normal non-permit trailer has 8 axles then you're increasing the length of the tension compared to other states with tri-axles. For heavy/permit loads, other states require having two tri-axle groups with a 169" spreader beam in between then they're only putting the normal amount of tension independently at each tri-axle group.

From an oil and gas perspective, most states weight limits the tanker trucks to 8,000 physical gallons (i.e. actual gallons transported may be less due to weight of commodity). In Michigan, it's about 13,400 physical gallons.

Related:
Awhile back, I was contacted via email by an outfit who was doing a study to determine if MI should adopt a road use charge and discontinue gas tax. They wanted to "connect" to my Jeep so they could monitor my road use to include my results in the study. I did not want to have anyone monitor my driving and I thought that there is no way the State of Michigan could honestly and efficiently administer a road use charge program. And my Jeep does not have an internet or connected app to enroll in the study anyway, but I agreed to participate in the study just for fun. After that, I heard nothing from them. Today I get an email from them thanking me for my participation in the study. And if I take a short survey, they will send me a $75 gift card.
So, either they are going to send me $75 for nothing or the Jeep was actually in contact with them via a connection I had no control over. It remains to be seen if I get the $75. Monitor my driving in order to tax me? Nope! It is pretty evident that most newly produced vehicles are capable of being monitored by a third party without your knowledge or consent. Can you "opt out"? Maybe. But most people dont know how to do this or are even aware that their driving is being monitored. Another example of how pervasive "monitoring" is in daily life. Who knows what this information is being used for and who has access to it. Very Big Brother! But... maybe I am up 75 bucks!

Well let’s add to the fiasco now.

For those in the Brighton/Howell/Livingston County area that use Grand River.
From WHMI radio, a local station:

Beginning next Thursday night, May 8, through early morning Sunday, May 11, both directions of Grand River will be closed nightly beneath I-96, so crews can demolish the westbound 96 bridge.

"Thursday night, back open Friday morning. Then again Friday night, back open. Then again Saturday night. It will only be at night, when it's going to be the least impactful to the public and traffic. Then those will get opened back up," MDOT's George Seif told WHMI News.

All of this is in preparation for a 50-day closure of Grand River at I-96 beginning in mid-June. At that time, eastbound Grand River traffic will be detoured down Hilton to Old U.S. 23 to Spencer and back to downtown Brighton.

Westbound Grand River traffic will be detoured on eastbound I-96 to Spencer, to Old U.S. 23, to Hilton.

However, access to downtown Brighton will remain for traffic coming off of I-96 to Grand River.

The good news, says Seif, is the configuration along I-96 won't change. He said both the Grand River 50-day closure and Chilson Road bridge replacement are scheduled to wrap up in August.”

As a “local” here, if traveling on 96 I’d keep your radio on WWJ 950 AM as traffic and weather is broadcast every eight minutes and if there is a stoppage on the expressway there are a couple of ways around. Probably the “best” way if westbound would be to exit 96 to northbound U.S.23, exit to westbound M-59 (10 miles) and continue until west of Howell where 59 crosses 96.

Eastbound, Exit 96 west of Howell, again take M-59 to southbound U.S.23 again ten miles to east 96 and reenter it.

Went southbound today and was on 675 to bypass the Zilwaukee I-75 bridge at 9:30am. Basically cruised right through, but I wouldn’t want to do it on a Sunday.

Heading north for a three generation day trip. Grandson, S-I-L (grandson’s stepdad) and myself in the next couple weeks.

Taking 75 north to West Branch/St.Helen. Coming back via 127 missing the festivities of going through Sagnasty (Saginaw) on the way home.

And I still hate the Zilwaukee Bridge!

More adventures in Michigan. I shoot Competitive 4 gun Skeet. Last weekend there was a shoot at Detroit Gun Club which is located in Commerce, TWP about 30 or 40 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, go figure. For me that means driving west on 696 to M5 and go north. That's about a 48 minute drive and nice and easy on an early Saturday or Sunday morning. Getting back home is much much different due to 696 eastbound being completely closed. I've already found out that the mile roads close to 696 going eastbound are bumper to bumper which is hard on my patience and the clutch in a manual transmission car. So I used 15 mile road because it's far enough from 696 the traffic does move pretty well. Except in Birmingham where MDOT has permitted that city to close 15 mile to one lane in each direction, have parallel parking in the lost lanes and install 6 to 8 counter timed traffic lights in order to bring traffic to a near complete standstill. Yeah, it's a hoity toity shopping district where traffic can be brought to a complete standstill for 5 minutes while some MORON in his giant truck tries to parallel park that behemoth. BTW, there are lights that are only separated by about 150 feet so it is a major clusterfuck to get thru that mess. I have to wonder how much in Bribes to MDOT "officials" was payed to allow that mess to be constructed.

Haven’t visited this thread lately.

Seems that Grand River Avenue (old U.S.16, runs adjacent to I-96) will be closed on the west side of Brighton where 96 crosses over it. Two months allegedly. That’s gonna be a real cluster**** especially,when there’s a now daily crash stopping 96.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
It is pretty evident that most newly produced vehicles are capable of being monitored by a third party without your knowledge or consent. Can you "opt out"? Maybe. But most people dont know how to do this or are even aware that their driving is being monitored.

There's a very long thread on another forum I frequent, regarding this very thing.

On the surface of it: yes, you can call the manufacturer and request to opt out. Whether that really does any good or not is anyone's guess.
Going deeper, though, one fella has gone into some serious detail on disconnecting the DCM (data collection module) and another has created a wiring harness to plug in that will restore the features that go nonfunctional when you do disconnect the DCM.

More and more, I think my next truck might be an Army surplus vehicle, bare-bones and uncomfortable, just to get away from all (most of?) the digital nonsense built into vehicles.


- - - - -

Back on topic: several summers ago I drove up to northeastern Michigan to visit friends. I was amazed at the number of orange barrels and cones in use. Whoever makes the orange dye for the plastics must be making a fortune!