(WXYZ) — Construction projects along Hall Road and in surrounding areas have become more than just a daily headache or nuisance. Drivers say they don’t know how much longer it’ll last and they’ve asked us to get answers from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
"M-59 has been closed in one direction. Now, it’s closed in the other. Then 22 is backed up. Everybody gets to use 21 Mile Road," said Thomas Hoag.
Hoag doesn’t just drive Hall Road every day, and sitting in traffic isn’t the only source of his frustration, since he lives next door to the construction.
"Yesterday, drove home and parked in the previous streets and cut through the backyards to get to my house," he said.
Another driver, Courtney Lomasney, said the road work gives her "a lot of anxiety."
And another driver, Tony Cherry, says “getting off for a half hour break, and you got to wait 20 min and 10 to get back to work. It’s terrible. It’s terrible.”
Drivers like these are not shy about sharing their feelings after having to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and they're finding it anything but a barrel of laughs along Hall Road. After traveling to see the impact, we pressed MDOT for answers as to what is happening.
"The railroad is coming in to replace tracks. We have a reconstruction job we’re combing," said Jim Petronski, project consultant for MDOT. "That closure detouring traffic onto 21 Mile will be done within 4 days or so, by Monday. The Hall Road work that’s gone from three lanes to two is continuing. We should have the top level of asphalt done by mid November and we should be out of there.”
We also checked with the county who adds the work being done plays an important role in allowing for a safe commute.
"Existing pavement is deteriorated to a point that needs replacement. It’s a huge corridor,” said Bryan Santo, director of the Macomb County Road Commission.
MDOT says a second year of the project will begin next spring and finish by the end of 2022. They’re also doing as much work as they can at night to minimize impact, although it’s not much relief if you ask Hoag, who’s not sold on all this.
"Better planning. Better planning. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it," said Hoag.
MDOT is also asking that you please be extra careful when you see workers on projects, so no one gets hurt.
