A traffic headache for drivers in Rochester, Rochester Hills and Shelby Township will begin on Monday.
Dequindre Road will close from 23 Mile Rd. to 24 Mile Rd. starting Monday, Oct. 28 for Great Lakes Water Authority work.
According to the GLWA, the "significant infrastructure improvements" along Dequindre Rd. will include the installation of a 96-inch water transmission main.
The authority said the transmission main project will enhance the water transmission system that serves multiple communities in Oakland, Macomb and Lapeer counties. The year-long closure will last until the fall of 2025, according to the GLWA.
The detour for the project will be 23 Mile Rd. to Shelby Rd., north to 24 Mile, west to Dequindre and vice-versa for the other direction.
We caught up with Joe Naniewicz at Kerby’s Koney Island, about a mile from where the closure will be. He is not looking forward to having to find two detours.
"So it’ll affect us there playing hockey, going in and out of the rink. And also our neighbor, he’s in assisted living in Rochester down on Avon road and we go that way to go in there and see him. So it’s going to be a traffic nightmare for us," he said.
We also talked with Kellie Linares, who works at Kerby's and is a nursing student at Oakland Community College.
She said the mile-long closure will mean an extra 10-15 minutes to her commute, meaning she'll have to drop a shift to make her classes.
"At this point because of the program, I've really had to consolidate. I’ve got four kids at home so the logistics of my life and everything I have going on are really important but I’ll figure something out," she said.
While this stretch is closed for the next year, the road closure for phase two of this project – Dequindre from south of Avon to Hamlin Rd. – is back open.
