Getting around metro Detroit suddenly got more difficult with cold, snowy weather.
We found construction workers still out pouring concrete on the granddaddy project of them all, I 696 in Macomb County.
An MDOT Spokesperson won’t say how cold it has to get before that can’t be done.
We found a guy who has worked on concrete crews.
John Monteleone says, “Concrete contains water, and it’s going to freeze with this cold. And I have a feeling it may crack at some time.”
The I-696 project is 8 1/2 miles long from I-94 to I-75 and $89 Million.
The road remains closed to the west, and the suggested alternate route is I-94 to downtown and I-75 back up to I-696.
Some people like John Muzzy takes the 11 Mile service drive to the west.
He says, “During rush hour it’s bumper to bumper all the way down here.”
Both routes are equally bad.
A lot of work still has to be done on one side. There are sections of lanes with gaps and long sections with no concrete.
An MDOT Spokesperson says they will use asphalt or cut corners in other ways if necessary to meet the schedule and come back in the spring to complete the project.
