(WXYZ) — I-94 closed on Friday morning in Detroit between I-75 and M-10 The Lodge for the next seven days as crews will move the skeleton structure for the Second Ave. bridge over the highway.
The new structure is the first network-tied arch bridge built in the State of Michigan, with network referring to the cables that are crossed from the top of the arch to the bottom of the driving surface.
This design, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation, eliminates the need for a center pier and will accommodate the future I-94/M-10 interchange.
Crews will move the skeleton of the bridge across the freeway with self-propelled modular transporters, and then an inspection has to be done before the freeway can open again. The bridge has been closed for a long time as part of the I-94 Modernization project.
“Are you excited to use the bridge once it’s in place?" I asked Tylim Bomds, who lives near the bridge.
"Yes, very very much. Going to be way more convenient for people to get to work and also to get to school," Bomds said.
Before the bridge can be used, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
“The whole operation moves very, very slowly," Rob Morosi, a spokesman for MDOT, said.
The skeleton was built off the freeway on the Wayne State University campus. 38 platforms will roll the 5 million-pound skeleton into place, moving inch by inch to not create any damage.
Construction on the bridge cost a whopping $26 million, and once in place, inspectors will make sure everything is secure.
“Then we begin the process of putting the driving surface on to open the bridge to traffic hopefully later this year," Morosi said.
What makes the bridge unique is that there is no center pier in the median. It's designed so that it will be supported by cables. The reason? To allow for space once MDOT starts construction on the M-10/I-94 interchange.
"We do not have to rebuild the center pier and remove one in the future. This is a cost-savings not even having the center pier be existent, and allowing us to build the freeway and the interchange under the bridge," Morosi said.
When the bridge does open, likely in December, it will have one lane of traffic in each direction, larger sidewalks and bike lanes.
During the closure, eastbound I-94 traffic will be diverted to southbound M-10, then northbound I-75 back to eastbound I-94. Westbound I-94 traffic will follow southbound I-75, then westbound I-96 back to westbound I-94.
