Latest / Talking Michigan Transportation / A look at project milestones as 2026 construction season winds down

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A look at project milestones as 2026 construction season winds down · Talking Michigan Transportation

• 0:07
  Jeff Cranson: Hello, welcome to the Talking Michigan Transportation Podcast.
• 0:10
  Jeff Cranson: I'm Jeff Cranson.
• 0:12
  Jeff Cranson: This week I wanted to recap some of the major road projects that are coming to completion across the state.
• 0:21
  Jeff Cranson: So I spoke with Gregg Brunner, who is MDOT's chief operations officer, who gave a good overview of what's going on in all of MDOT's seven regions.
• 0:30
  Jeff Cranson: We also talked a little bit about what's going on with inflation and construction costs and how that's affecting the program and what will happen with the program as Governor Whitmer's $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan plan winds down.
• 0:44
  Jeff Cranson: But mostly we talked about projects across the state and where things stand and what we'll be seeing in in coming years.
• 0:52
  Jeff Cranson: So I hope you enjoy the conversation.
• 0:54
  Jeff Cranson: So once again, I'm with Gregg Brunner, who is the Chief Operations Officer at the Michigan Department of Transportation.
• 1:01
  Jeff Cranson: Every year around this time, I like to talk to him about what's been accomplished during the construction season.
• 1:07
  Jeff Cranson: We're at the end of October, which means most of the work is winding down.
• 1:11
  Jeff Cranson: There are some punch list items left on some projects that will extend close to the end of the year.
• 1:17
  Jeff Cranson: But for the most part, this is a good time to assess what's happened.
• 1:20
  Jeff Cranson: But before we jump into that, Gregg, I wanted to set the table by talking a little bit about what we've seen in construction costs.
• 1:29
  Jeff Cranson: We know that coming out of the pandemic, there was uh outsized inflation that really jacked things up, both in terms of materials and fuel and labor.
• 1:39
  Jeff Cranson: Um, and then also, as part of that, talk about what happens as the rebuilding Michigan program winds down.
• 1:47
  Jeff Cranson: That was a $3.5 billion bonding program that uh really infused a lot of money into the busiest roads across the state.
• 1:57
  Jeff Cranson: And that's just about done or will be over the next year or two, and that means the program will be uh getting back to a normal size.
• 2:06
  Jeff Cranson: So, first talk a little bit about what what you're hearing and seeing about construction costs.
• 2:11
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 2:11
  Gregg Brunner: And thanks again for having me, Jeff.
• 2:13
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so what we've been seeing since the pandemic, or at least during the pandemic, was a huge spike in construction costs overall.
• 2:20
  Gregg Brunner: And of course, that limited our buying power power.
• 2:23
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, since the pandemic, though, those prices have stabilized a little bit, returning back to more our normal rates of inflation, you know, in that 6% range or so per year.
• 2:33
  Gregg Brunner: So that's stabilized a little bit, although still continues to increase going forward.
• 2:37
  Gregg Brunner: But again, we're keeping an eye on things as we always do as these lettings keep coming in.
• 2:42
  Gregg Brunner: But I think more recently, what we've been seeing is, at least at the pumps, is the increase in oil and gas prices going on right now.
• 2:49
  Gregg Brunner: Um, and the way that works with our construction industry and our bidding process is the work you see going on out there right now, those prices were all set when the projects were let last year.
• 2:59
  Gregg Brunner: So we don't intend to see price change prices change on the work you're seeing out there right now.
• 3:03
  Gregg Brunner: But as bids are starting to come in for next year's projects, that those bids may be captured next year that would incorporate these price increases that we're seeing at the pump right now.
• 3:13
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, talk about those bidding cycles.
• 3:15
  Jeff Cranson: And so when when will most of those projects that we're gonna see next year um be let?
• 3:22
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 3:23
  Gregg Brunner: So actually, we tried to let those um from August to January of this year, and that that extra time allows contractors to prepare going forward.
• 3:32
  Gregg Brunner: So the majority of projects for next summer should be let by January, uh coming up in a couple months here.
• 3:39
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we'll be able to have a better idea going forward.
• 3:41
  Gregg Brunner: But by letting those a little bit earlier, that gives contractors a time to prepare for their summer in terms of scheduling, ordering materials, getting supplies ready.
• 3:49
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so they have a plan going forward.
• 3:51
  Jeff Cranson: But there's gonna be some kind of shack with fuel prices at some point, right?
• 3:56
  Gregg Brunner: Correct.
• 3:56
  Gregg Brunner: Because again, when you start thinking about fuel prices, many people just think of it as the gas that goes into operate the or diesel that goes into operate equipment that they see out there, but those also go into the shipping costs from the materials we're buying.
• 4:09
  Gregg Brunner: And you know, when you talk about asphalt that's composed of many oil-based products, you know, there's many other costs beyond just uh the equipment operations you see out there.
• 4:19
  Jeff Cranson: So does that mean because of I I I think to really break this down for the uninitiated, um, because of what makes up asphalt or hot mix asphalt, um, does that have a greater impact on asphalt than it does on concrete?
• 4:34
  Gregg Brunner: Perhaps.
• 4:35
  Gregg Brunner: Um a lot of it goes in the manufacturing process as well.
• 4:38
  Gregg Brunner: So, you know, we're gonna see that probably across the board in materials as they start coming out.
• 4:43
  Gregg Brunner: But depending where they're hauling from, those types of things, how difficult it is to extract um the gravel or sand or wherever it's coming from, hauling distances, those all play play a role.
• 4:54
  Gregg Brunner: So it varies from project to project and material to material, but again, we kind of expect to see it across the board.
• 5:01
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 5:01
  Jeff Cranson: So before we start running through these various projects across MDAT's seven regions, talk a little bit about rebuilding Michigan.
• 5:10
  Jeff Cranson: I mean, by all accounts, it's been a great success.
• 5:13
  Jeff Cranson: Some people would say, you know what, it's okay with me if we're not doing as much the next few years.
• 5:17
  Jeff Cranson: We've heard a lot of people are glad the roads are being fixed, but they also complain about it.
• 5:21
  Jeff Cranson: And as you know, the governor and lieutenant governor say you're welcome when somebody says that.
• 5:26
  Jeff Cranson: But uh we're gonna be backing off uh some of that capacity and what we've been doing.
• 5:32
  Jeff Cranson: So talk a little bit about that.
• 5:34
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 5:34
  Gregg Brunner: Um, yeah, with the Rebuilding Michigan program at about three and a half billion dollars, that was almost a billion dollar a year bump in construction that folks were seeing out on the roadways.
• 5:44
  Gregg Brunner: And I think as you already mentioned, a lot of that was going on in southern Michigan on some of our busiest freeways out there.
• 5:50
  Gregg Brunner: So a lot of those projects are starting to wind down.
• 5:52
  Gregg Brunner: I know some of those I'll be talking about in the next couple of minutes here.
• 5:56
  Gregg Brunner: But again, we'll be going back to more of a quote normal construction program.
• 6:01
  Gregg Brunner: But we did get a little bit of an influx from the neighborhood roads fund, uh, the funding package that was proposed uh approved this past year.
• 6:09
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we'll be incorporating that into things, but it won't be anywhere near where we were kind of with that rebuilding Michigan program.
• 6:16
  Jeff Cranson: Well, let's start, uh let's run through these then and we'll start uh with the university region and work our way across and and then north and and back again.
• 6:27
  Jeff Cranson: The big one, I I really like these.
• 6:29
  Jeff Cranson: We've had great success, both uh the first states uh Diverging Diamond Interchange uh interchange that was rebuilt to incorporate that that uh uh technology and I guess you'd say innovation was in Oakland County at 75 Auburn Hills.
• 6:47
  Jeff Cranson: Um, and then we had did another one shortly after that in the Grand Region, um, east of Grand Rapids at 96 and Cascade Road.
• 6:54
  Jeff Cranson: Some trepidation at first, but uh right away everybody said this is working great.
• 6:59
  Jeff Cranson: They it was very intuitive and it worked out.
• 7:01
  Jeff Cranson: So the next one, uh the one that's wrapping up now, major uh freeway traffic is uh at I-96 and Grand River near near Brighton.
• 7:12
  Jeff Cranson: Can you talk about that one?
• 7:14
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 7:14
  Gregg Brunner: That's one of our diverging diamond interchanges that you had mentioned previously, and again, it's been going on for a little while.
• 7:20
  Gregg Brunner: Uh the westbound bridge there was completed in 2025, and the eastbound bridge and final opening of the DDI are scheduled for next month.
• 7:27
  Gregg Brunner: Apologize, I said DDI, that's diverging diamond interchange.
• 7:31
  Gregg Brunner: Um, since we love acronyms at MDOT.
• 7:34
  Gregg Brunner: But again, it's rebuilding both bridges over the Grand River, 0.7 miles of approaches and converting that interchange to a diverging diamond interchange.
• 7:42
  Gregg Brunner: Um, but in addition to that, just the geometry there, one of the things we're doing is it's our first ever use of highly modified asphalt.
• 7:50
  Gregg Brunner: And what that is, it's got additional polymers in that asphalt binder that makes it a little bit more flexible.
• 7:56
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so what that pavement will do is be able to resist rutting and cracking going through.
• 8:01
  Gregg Brunner: So it's something we'll keep an eye on going forward.
• 8:03
  Gregg Brunner: But it's the first time we've used it.
• 8:05
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, so it's a kind of an innovative fix that we're looking at to kind of improve the payment out there.
• 8:10
  Gregg Brunner: Um, one of the big things with this one though is we did have the contractor work around the clock during key phases to minimize some of those uh traffic impacts that are out there.
• 8:19
  Gregg Brunner: And again, we expect a long-term impact with this, not only from the new bridges going in out there, but also the improved operations of that diverging diamond interchange.
• 8:28
  Jeff Cranson: And the team managed to keep two lanes going in each direction most of the time during the day, anyway.
• 8:33
  Jeff Cranson: And that that's a good thing.
• 8:34
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, mobility is something we look at in all of our construction projects because not only safety, but we incorporate mobility.
• 8:40
  Gregg Brunner: We want to keep traffic moving so that people can get where they want to go.
• 8:43
  Jeff Cranson: But you're always also having to kind of balance those two things, right?
• 8:47
  Jeff Cranson: The balance.
• 8:48
  Jeff Cranson: Correct.
• 8:48
  Jeff Cranson: It's always balancing mobility.
• 8:51
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 8:51
  Jeff Cranson: Further down, I-96, uh not far from there, there's uh they call it rubelization going on between Shulson and Door Road.
• 9:00
  Jeff Cranson: That that's an almost $51 million project, too.
• 9:04
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, that's another big project in the area.
• 9:06
  Gregg Brunner: And again, rubblization, what that means is there's an existing concrete pavement out there.
• 9:10
  Gregg Brunner: What we're doing is actually smashing that down, more or less turning it into gravel, and then using that as the gravel sub base below the paving that's going on top of it.
• 9:19
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so in addition to the almost four miles of paving that's out there, we're doing work on seven bridges, drainage and sewer upgrades.
• 9:27
  Gregg Brunner: Um, and then this one's been going on for a couple of years also.
• 9:30
  Gregg Brunner: In 2025, westbound traffic was shifted to eastbound.
• 9:34
  Gregg Brunner: Well, or I'm sorry, was shifted all traffic on westbound while eastbound was reconstructed.
• 9:39
  Gregg Brunner: So traffic was shifted across to on a crossover there.
• 9:42
  Gregg Brunner: 2026, it was shifted the opposite way while westbound was being rebuilt.
• 9:47
  Gregg Brunner: And again, this one's scheduled to open up next month as well.
• 9:50
  Gregg Brunner: We'll be doing a little bit of cleanup work out there in the spring, but for the most part, all lanes will be open uh you know in November.
• 9:57
  Gregg Brunner: But this is one of Michigan's earliest non-reinforced concrete freeways.
• 10:01
  Gregg Brunner: So what that means is there's no rebar in the pavement.
• 10:04
  Gregg Brunner: It was just concrete out there.
• 10:06
  Gregg Brunner: And now that we're upgrading it and doing this rubblization process, again, we expect that to last a long time.
• 10:12
  Gregg Brunner: One of the things we ran into on this one, though, is we had to remove thousands of feet of rubber joints and there.
• 10:18
  Gregg Brunner: We had to get that out of the out of the current pavement and then kind of rubblize and then go through and repave over the top.
• 10:25
  Gregg Brunner: But again, one of the things we looked at this was keeping ramps open at Latson Road, despite the long project bisecting the interchange.
• 10:33
  Gregg Brunner: So again, overall mobility is another big thing we looked at as part of this project, but we hope motors see a smoother ride going forward on this heavy commuter route.
• 10:42
  Jeff Cranson: So, what you're saying is that uh some of these roads are being rebuilt.
• 10:46
  Jeff Cranson: I mean, not just resurfaced or fixed, but being rebuilt for the first time since they were first put in.
• 10:52
  Gregg Brunner: Correct.
• 10:53
  Gregg Brunner: Lots of these, and in particular with the rebuilding Michigan program and quite a few of the other projects we're talking about, those are total reconstructs of what's out there.
• 11:00
  Gregg Brunner: So we expect those to be long-term fixes that we won't have to come back anytime soon to do major work on.
• 11:06
  Jeff Cranson: And one thing we talked about with a lot of these project visits with uh with Governor Whitmer and other lawmakers, and I know this is something that that you like to tout, is that when you can do this, when you can rebuild these completely, um, it eliminates a lot of that ongoing maintenance work.
• 11:23
  Jeff Cranson: And people think, you know, when you hear from people all the time that it seems like you guys were just working on that last year.
• 11:28
  Jeff Cranson: It's like, yeah, we were, and here's why.
• 11:31
  Jeff Cranson: This will help alleviate some of that, right?
• 11:33
  Jeff Cranson: Correct.
• 11:34
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, it'll uh reduce impacts to traffic going forward.
• 11:37
  Gregg Brunner: So folks are looking forward to that.
• 11:39
  Jeff Cranson: Let's move further west to Lansing, still in the university region.
• 11:43
  Jeff Cranson: Um major work, anybody that comes to Lansing, probably all the lawmakers and lobbyists and others, uh, people that come in for football games, have probably thought that the 127, 496 area has been under construction for 10 years.
• 11:58
  Jeff Cranson: Um, and it feels like it, but we're winding down, finishing up the second of three phases.
• 12:05
  Jeff Cranson: So talk about that one.
• 12:07
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 12:07
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so on this 127 quarter, there's three different phases out there.
• 12:11
  Gregg Brunner: Um, the first one, many remember, was a 200 million dollar project from I-96 to I-496, so kind of on the southern stretch of 127 and Lansing.
• 12:22
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, the current phase is a $46 million project from south of Lake Lansing Road to I-69.
• 12:28
  Gregg Brunner: Again, this is another rubberization project with an asphalt overlay, kind of like I had talked about um a minute ago in I-96.
• 12:35
  Gregg Brunner: But again, this one we expect to open next month as well.
• 12:37
  Gregg Brunner: And really, this one, what this did is it addressed one of the worst pavement sections we have in the Lansing area.
• 12:43
  Gregg Brunner: So we're happy to get that one fixed.
• 12:45
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so with that said, at opening, you know, this fall, we're gonna be back again in 2027, kind of doing that middle section between 496 up to Lansing Road.
• 12:54
  Gregg Brunner: That's a $130 million project, which is a concrete inlay, a different type of fix where we remove the pavement and then place concrete back over the existing sub base there.
• 13:04
  Gregg Brunner: So that one will be kicking off next year to kind of address that last stretch of 127 in the Lansing area.
• 13:10
  Jeff Cranson: So that last part of it, I see the $130 million phase that isn't going to wrap up until 2029.
• 13:18
  Jeff Cranson: But that means that all told um in that corridor, we'll we'll have spent almost $400 million.
• 13:25
  Gregg Brunner: Yeah, that's a huge investment to that 127 freeway in Lansing, and we expect that to last, like I had talked about previously, a long time.
• 13:32
  Gregg Brunner: These are all long-term fixes.
• 13:33
  Gregg Brunner: So we'll be in a good spot for anyone traveling to or through Lansing.
• 13:38
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, okay.
• 13:39
  Jeff Cranson: So let's uh look at the southwest region, which is centered in Kalamazoo, um, way west of Kalamazoo and Berrien County, almost to the border.
• 13:49
  Jeff Cranson: You got a major one going on there.
• 13:51
  Gregg Brunner: Yep.
• 13:51
  Gregg Brunner: I-94 in Stevensville, that's a $200 million rebuilding Michigan funded project.
• 13:57
  Gregg Brunner: Uh with that one, we're doing eight and a half miles of freeway reconstruction.
• 14:01
  Gregg Brunner: So a long route there, which includes uh four bridges being reconstructed and nine more being just rehabilitated.
• 14:08
  Gregg Brunner: So there'll be sound wall, new drainage, new cable, culverts, everything.
• 14:12
  Gregg Brunner: So it's since it's a reconstructed, it'll be pretty much entirely new throughout there.
• 14:16
  Gregg Brunner: And again, that one is on schedule to open by the end of next month.
• 14:19
  Gregg Brunner: So we're in a good spot with that one as well.
• 14:21
  Gregg Brunner: I know this was three years of major reconstruction, but we really worked hard with the contractor on this one to keep the project on track to restore, get everything restored and open before winter.
• 14:31
  Jeff Cranson: Another one of significance, and it's not nearly as big from a funding standpoint, but every project is important if it's your road.
• 14:38
  Jeff Cranson: And since I have relatives in Battle Creek, this one's important.
• 14:41
  Jeff Cranson: Um, talk about the eight million dollar repairs at M89 and uh the bridge and road work there in Battle Creek.
• 14:48
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 14:49
  Gregg Brunner: That's uh in Battle Creek, we did two bridge projects, uh deck patching, substructure repairs, and overlays, and then a superstructure replacement on M-89 over the Kalamazoo River.
• 15:00
  Gregg Brunner: Again, there's additionally road reconstruction, inlay, guardrail.
• 15:04
  Gregg Brunner: Like I had mentioned, um, not as large as some of the other projects we mentioned here, but if you're from Battle Creek, again, this was a huge impact.
• 15:10
  Gregg Brunner: And the good thing to note is we were actually able to get this one open early.
• 15:14
  Gregg Brunner: So again, this is uh this route is a critical role through north-south connections.
• 15:20
  Gregg Brunner: Um, and really we wanted to get things back up open as quick as we could here, just to limit the impacts of the folks in Battle Creek.
• 15:29
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, and there's a lot of train traffic there, and the trains would block the local roads, so having this uh back in good shape helps with that, I guess.
• 15:36
  Gregg Brunner: Correct.
• 15:37
  Jeff Cranson: So we're gonna jump around a little bit, but we'll go up to the Bay region, which is the Flint Saginaw Bay City area.
• 15:46
  Jeff Cranson: Um major project in Midland.
• 15:48
  Jeff Cranson: It also seems like that one was going on for a while.
• 15:52
  Jeff Cranson: Um, but you had to plan around a lot of the events at Dow Diamond where the loons play.
• 15:57
  Jeff Cranson: So talk about that one.
• 15:59
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 15:59
  Gregg Brunner: That's uh $26 million project, which is about two miles of reconstruction.
• 16:05
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we're doing new storm sewer, turbine gutter, new pavement, lighting, uh ADA work, those types of things, installing a shared use path, uh signal modernization and lane reductions out there.
• 16:19
  Gregg Brunner: And again, this one is an impact to customers because we had to coordinate around a lot of the events with Dow Diamond, which made for some complex staging, but again, it required a lot of coordination, not only with Dow Diamond themselves, but with the city and other events going on there.
• 16:32
  Gregg Brunner: But kind of the good news is work will be completed next month for westbound.
• 16:37
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, we'll be back to do eastbound in 2027 with full completion in October of next year.
• 16:44
  Jeff Cranson: And I saw that it came in 16.5% underestimate.
• 16:47
  Jeff Cranson: That's uh correct.
• 16:48
  Gregg Brunner: That's always that's always good to see on our projects again coming in under like that.
• 16:53
  Gregg Brunner: Again, that's creates dollars we can use on other projects then to keep things moving forward.
• 16:58
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 16:59
  Jeff Cranson: And then another one that the Bay Region staff uh wanted to tout was a $13 million project on M-58 in Saginaw.
• 17:08
  Gregg Brunner: This is in Saginaw.
• 17:09
  Gregg Brunner: Again, it's a full asphalt reconstruction, drainage upgrades, watering, sidewalk signals.
• 17:15
  Gregg Brunner: Um, and really there were some detours that had to occur because of this.
• 17:19
  Gregg Brunner: And a lot of that came from things that were going on with it.
• 17:22
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, there were some utility conflicts we ran into out there, but again, we want to thank the residents of Saginaw for their patience on this one.
• 17:30
  Gregg Brunner: Paving wraps up within a week, and traffic will be switched by Thanksgiving.
• 17:34
  Gregg Brunner: So, again, this is a long-term drainage improvement and a smoother ride for folks traveling through the Saginaw area.
• 17:40
  Jeff Cranson: And then let's look at the metro region, and that's defined as Metro Detroit, obviously.
• 17:47
  Jeff Cranson: Um, the biggest by far, um, not just in that region, but really across the state is the 696 project.
• 17:55
  Jeff Cranson: There's going to be a lot of people very happy to see that one complete, um, major traffic volumes.
• 18:00
  Jeff Cranson: So, talk about that.
• 18:01
  Gregg Brunner: This is a $260 million project with eight miles of freeway being rebuilt or reconstructed, and another mile and a half of pavement repairs.
• 18:11
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, the big thing on this one, I think, is there were 60 different bridges that we were able to rehab, as well as replacement of one of the biggest ones out there, the Church Street Plaza Bridge, which is that large one that goes over 696.
• 18:23
  Gregg Brunner: You almost feel like you're driving through a tunnel on that one.
• 18:26
  Gregg Brunner: Uh it's lighted underneath those types of things.
• 18:28
  Gregg Brunner: But uh this one had quite a few traffic impacts down there.
• 18:32
  Gregg Brunner: Eastbound was detoured for two seasons, um, which really allowed us when you look at total project length by doing this detour, it actually cut a year off the construction cost, uh, the construction project length.
• 18:44
  Gregg Brunner: So we were able to shave off a year just by detouring uh eastbound for those two seasons.
• 18:49
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, Westbound's reopened October 26, and eastbound will be open in a year.
• 18:54
  Gregg Brunner: So, again, this plaza bridge is a community connector.
• 18:58
  Gregg Brunner: Um, again, it allows access to neighborhoods and schools and temples on sides.
• 19:03
  Gregg Brunner: So it's been a lot of coordination with all those folks involved through the 696 corridor, both residents that live there, but also the folks that commute on that corridor day to day.
• 19:12
  Jeff Cranson: You talk a little bit about the the history of when that was originally built in that plaza, and it had to be it had to be made to accommodate some people from that temple that have to walk to temple on the Sabbath.
• 19:26
  Jeff Cranson: We've kind of reaccommodated that with the the new design and the rebuild.
• 19:31
  Gregg Brunner: Yep.
• 19:32
  Gregg Brunner: Yeah, so 696 kind of bisected where uh residents of or attendees of this temple go for religious reasons.
• 19:40
  Gregg Brunner: You know, when you think of going to church or whatever, you hop in the car and drive, but for religious reasons, they have to walk.
• 19:46
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we built a plaza bridge over here to accommodate mobility.
• 19:51
  Gregg Brunner: Um, lots of people when they think about MDOT, they only think about cars in terms of where they're going.
• 19:56
  Gregg Brunner: But at MDOT, we kind of focus on overall mobility.
• 19:59
  Gregg Brunner: You know, whether people are biking or walking or taking the bus, transit, um, really we want to help people get where they want to go.
• 20:06
  Gregg Brunner: And again, this is just part of that to kind of help connect that community so they can get where they need to be.
• 20:11
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, I know it's really important, and it's been great to uh to be able to work with the community and accommodate that.
• 20:18
  Jeff Cranson: We'll be right back.
• 20:20
  Jeff Cranson: Stay tuned.
• 20:26
  MDOT Message: Even with the best planning, backups and traffic congestion can occur during road construction.
• 20:31
  MDOT Message: This can pose hazardous situations for both motorists and construction workers, particularly when drivers are distracted.
• 20:38
  MDOT Message: Motorists are more likely than workers to be killed or injured in work zone-related incidents.
• 20:44
  MDOT Message: Additionally, the leading causes of all work zone-related crashes are distracted driving and speeding.
• 20:50
  MDOT Message: So it's crucial to do your part in ensuring the safety of both drivers and focusing on your most important task, safe driving.
• 20:58
  MDOT Message: Slow down and stay focused.
• 21:04
  Jeff Cranson: Another one that was mentioned in the Metro region, it's a really big one, is M-14 and I-96.
• 21:10
  Jeff Cranson: That's uh also a complete rebuild, and that's a $145 million range.
• 21:17
  Jeff Cranson: Can you give a little overview of that?
• 21:19
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 21:19
  Gregg Brunner: Um, again, full concrete reconstruction.
• 21:21
  Gregg Brunner: We're rehabbing 18 bridges, we're upgrading our intelligent transportation system out there, our ITS system.
• 21:29
  Gregg Brunner: And new freeway lighting, uh, a connection to the I-275 metro trail and major sewer upgrades.
• 21:36
  Gregg Brunner: Uh, this is the final major reconstruction project uh of the corridor.
• 21:41
  Gregg Brunner: So again, it's good to be able to get this entire corridor complete.
• 21:44
  Gregg Brunner: And one of the things we did note is there's some chronic water seepage issues that were occurring out there.
• 21:49
  Gregg Brunner: So by doing all this work, it's gonna address some of the drainage things that we were concerned with in the past.
• 21:54
  Gregg Brunner: And what we're shooting for is this one should be open by Thanksgiving with just a little bit of minor cleanup work.
• 21:59
  Gregg Brunner: Going on in 2027.
• 22:02
  Jeff Cranson: And that very popular 275 trail that's right there is also being rebuilt as part of this, right?
• 22:09
  Jeff Cranson: Yes.
• 22:10
  Gregg Brunner: Yep.
• 22:10
  Gregg Brunner: So again, like I talked spoke about previously at MDOT, we're not just looking at car traffic, we're looking at all traffic for mobility to allow people the options they need for where they want to go.
• 22:20
  Gregg Brunner: Yeah.
• 22:21
  Jeff Cranson: So uh in the Grand Rapids-based Grand Region, let's talk first about uh the the big one.
• 22:29
  Jeff Cranson: Um affects a lot of people's lives.
• 22:31
  Jeff Cranson: I hear from I have the last few years from lawmakers and others from the the greater Grand Rapids area who have to commute to Lansing.
• 22:40
  Jeff Cranson: Uh that that project in Ionia County from Bliss Road to Sunfield Road.
• 22:44
  Jeff Cranson: Where does that one stand?
• 22:46
  Gregg Brunner: This is a $130 million rebuilding Michigan project.
• 22:49
  Gregg Brunner: It's about nine miles of HMA reconstruction, which has box culverts, cable barrier, bridge rehabilitation, but lots of new safety technologies we incorporated into this project throughout.
• 23:01
  Gregg Brunner: Early on in the project, there were uh more crashes out there than we were anticipating.
• 23:05
  Gregg Brunner: So we made a lot of adjustments going forward.
• 23:08
  Gregg Brunner: Um, we did something that we call a work zone road safety audit.
• 23:11
  Gregg Brunner: Um, during the initial construction, we had everything set up as we normally would for safety measures on our construction projects, but crashes were occurring.
• 23:19
  Gregg Brunner: And because of that, we went in and did this audit where we kind of brought in a fresh set of eyes to look at things and see what we could do additionally to kind of make improvements out there.
• 23:29
  Gregg Brunner: We did an advanced warning system.
• 23:31
  Gregg Brunner: We work with state police on Ghost Rider, where they actually keep an unmarked car out there to kind of identify and address people and then pull them over down the road.
• 23:41
  Gregg Brunner: And then also included what's called the Haas Alert System out there, where when we turn on the bubble lights on some of our trucks, what happens is it sends notifications to Google Ways, Apple Maps, uh Stellantis, Volkswagen, and some other OEM vehicles that there's a construction zone out there.
• 23:59
  Gregg Brunner: So again, those people that use navigational systems, that information pops up right away so that they can kind of take action and know something's going on ahead.
• 24:08
  Gregg Brunner: But what we're able to do as part of this kind of road safety audit is a 5% crash reduction, 8% reduction in injury crashes, and most importantly, there are zero fatalities in 2025 and 2026.
• 24:20
  Jeff Cranson: Is that the first time you use that has system?
• 24:23
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, it's something we're actually piloting right now on more than just this roadway system.
• 24:29
  Gregg Brunner: We have about a hundred different vehicles upfit with it around the state.
• 24:33
  Gregg Brunner: So again, it's what we've seen that looks promising, but we're continuing to pilot it and see how it works overall.
• 24:39
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, it'll be great to see if that's something that can be a success elsewhere.
• 24:43
  Jeff Cranson: So the other one worth mentioning in the grand region is the rebuilding of M46 in the city of Muskegon.
• 24:50
  Jeff Cranson: That's a $15 million project.
• 24:52
  Jeff Cranson: What's interesting about that?
• 24:54
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 24:54
  Gregg Brunner: Uh this one's a full reconstruction and reconfiguring Burst Street and Muskegon Avenue to be able to extend Route Memorial Park right there.
• 25:03
  Gregg Brunner: Um, additionally, there'll be a new non-motorized crossing at Sanford Street.
• 25:07
  Gregg Brunner: And kind of the interesting thing about this one is as far as jurisdiction goes, MDOT will be turning this over to the city of Muskegon once it's completed.
• 25:14
  Gregg Brunner: Um we came to an agreement with that, and again, that's what'll happen at the end.
• 25:19
  Gregg Brunner: The project was intentionally paired with city placemaking efforts for long-term community benefits, just so people can get around uh the city of Muskegon.
• 25:26
  Jeff Cranson: So that's a jurisdictional transfer.
• 25:29
  Gregg Brunner: Correct.
• 25:30
  Jeff Cranson: So let's uh move up to the north region, which is pretty much all of the counties in the northern lower peninsula, vast area geographically.
• 25:41
  Jeff Cranson: Uh, there's a big one I know we've heard a lot about uh from people that's coming up in Gaylord, some initial work starting this fall.
• 25:49
  Jeff Cranson: Um, it's not gonna be complete, but it's worth mentioning because it's the first diverging diamond interchange.
• 25:54
  Jeff Cranson: We talked about DDIs earlier in some of the uh southern parts of the state, but this is a big deal.
• 26:00
  Jeff Cranson: And I know people are some are very excited about it, some are nervous about what it's gonna mean during the construction, but can you talk a little bit about that?
• 26:08
  Gregg Brunner: Sure.
• 26:08
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so as you mentioned, beginning this fall, we're gonna replace both the northbound and southbound bridges of I-75 over M32, which is right at the north Gaylord exit.
• 26:18
  Gregg Brunner: And we're also gonna rebuild M32 between Edelweiss Village and Meecher Road in Wisconsin Avenue.
• 26:25
  Gregg Brunner: So the bridges were built in 1961, both are in poor condition.
• 26:29
  Gregg Brunner: That doesn't mean they aren't safe right now, but when you look at condition overall, um, it's reached the poor status.
• 26:35
  Gregg Brunner: So this is an opportunity to actually modernize that whole interchange.
• 26:38
  Gregg Brunner: I know for anyone that travels through there, especially during busy weekends, that M32 or 75 really has a lot of backups throughout there.
• 26:46
  Gregg Brunner: So by looking at the diverging diamond here, um, we received a lot of community input on this and engineering review.
• 26:52
  Gregg Brunner: And this is going to improve operations for that stretch, hopefully alleviate some of the backups and improve safety overall.
• 26:59
  Gregg Brunner: Quite a bit of work going on here, but it kicks off this fall.
• 27:02
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, and I should mention that this isn't just important to the tourists who flood into the Gaylord area in the summer, but year-round, that's the major commercial corridor for a whole region.
• 27:14
  Jeff Cranson: So lots of people travel to the big box stores and other things in Gaylord and they use that route.
• 27:19
  Jeff Cranson: So it's uh it's really important.
• 27:21
  Jeff Cranson: Lastly, let's talk a little bit about a couple of projects in the superior region, which is the Upper Peninsula M-35 rebuild and another roundabout, which uh has become very popular in some upper peninsula communities.
• 27:34
  Jeff Cranson: This one's in Marquette County.
• 27:36
  Jeff Cranson: Can you talk a little about that?
• 27:37
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, Marquette County is actually a big supporter of roundabouts.
• 27:40
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we're doing a six million dollar roundabout there on M35, but that's in addition to rebuilding about three miles of M35 between County Road 480 and US 41.
• 27:50
  Gregg Brunner: This is a crush and shape project that'll result in new asphalt pavement, widened shoulders, uh, of course, a modern roundabout at M35 and County Road 492.
• 28:00
  Gregg Brunner: And again, this replaces an offset intersection.
• 28:04
  Gregg Brunner: So the big thing here with roundabouts, um, it improves operations, but most importantly, improves safety.
• 28:09
  Gregg Brunner: And this is a major enhancement for not only, like we had talked about, cars, but also snowmobile and non-motorized trail crossings to keep everybody safe, regardless of their choice of mobility through the UP.
• 28:21
  Gregg Brunner: Uh the roundabout opened in August, but the rest of the work wraps up next month.
• 28:26
  Jeff Cranson: Um, and you've seen this.
• 28:27
  Jeff Cranson: We talked about this when uh National Roundabout Week uh came around.
• 28:32
  Jeff Cranson: But during your time at the department, you've really seen a change in the public's uh attitude and perception about roundabouts, haven't you?
• 28:39
  Gregg Brunner: Yep.
• 28:39
  Gregg Brunner: I was part of the one that went in at I-75 and M-81, which were some of the first ones we put in at the interchange there on both sides of the interchange.
• 28:48
  Gregg Brunner: Lots of negotiations with the public, lots of concerns as they rolled out.
• 28:52
  Gregg Brunner: But again, now it's good to see people are actually starting to buy into these is a fantastic safety solution.
• 28:57
  Gregg Brunner: And of course, no red lights you have to stop at um and wait for a traffic signal.
• 29:02
  Jeff Cranson: So good good for safety, good for the environment.
• 29:04
  Jeff Cranson: Let's talk a little bit about another project.
• 29:06
  Jeff Cranson: And this one, uh, anybody that travels north of St.
• 29:09
  Jeff Cranson: Ignace is familiar with, and that's the I-75 overpass at Cheeseman Road.
• 29:14
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, this is a $9 million bridge replacement project or deck replacement project.
• 29:18
  Gregg Brunner: It's on year two of the multi-year project.
• 29:22
  Gregg Brunner: Uh again, this is just north of the Mackinaw Bridge, a couple miles if you stay on I-75.
• 29:26
  Gregg Brunner: Deck replacement, bearing and substructure repairs, beam end repairs.
• 29:30
  Gregg Brunner: Um, so again, a lot of work on this bridge.
• 29:32
  Gregg Brunner: Northbound was done in 2025.
• 29:35
  Gregg Brunner: Southbound opens to one lane during construction.
• 29:37
  Gregg Brunner: Again, and the full project completion is expected next month.
• 29:42
  Gregg Brunner: So again, we're getting close to wrapping this one up, but again, it's gonna ensure long-term mobility on one of the nation's most critical corridors when you start looking at going from Florida all the way up to Canada on I-75.
• 29:53
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, yeah, well said.
• 29:54
  Jeff Cranson: Well, anything else you want to add?
• 29:56
  Jeff Cranson: Like we talked about at the beginning.
• 29:58
  Jeff Cranson: Um, we've had a lot of these big major projects with major impacts the last few years.
• 30:03
  Jeff Cranson: That's gonna that's gonna scale back some in in coming years, but uh it's still gonna be a significant program in 2027.
• 30:12
  Gregg Brunner: Yep, and I know we keep talking about construction winding down here, but I also wanted to remind folks from a work zone safety standpoint that construction is not over either.
• 30:21
  Gregg Brunner: So if you could do me a favor and slow down as you're going through those work zones and keep your eyes on the road just to keep everybody safe.
• 30:29
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, always a good message.
• 30:30
  Jeff Cranson: Well, thanks, Greg, for taking time to go over these and uh you know give give some some props to the all the crews in the various regions that have been working so hard on these all summer.
• 30:40
  Gregg Brunner: Thanks, Jeff.
• 30:40
  Gregg Brunner: I appreciate it.
• 30:41
  Gregg Brunner: Again, lots of times we keep looking forward, so it's not often that we get pick time to go back and look at some of the accomplishments like these.
• 30:47
  Gregg Brunner: So it's good to see some of these success stories as the projects wrap up.
• 30:51
  Gregg Brunner: So thanks for the conversation today.
• 30:53
  Jeff Cranson: I'd like to thank you once more for tuning in to Talking Machine Transportation.
• 30:57
  Jeff Cranson: You can find show notes and more on Apple Podcasts or Buzzsprout.
• 31:01
  Jeff Cranson: I also want to acknowledge the talented people who help make this a reality each week, starting with Randy Debler, who skillfully edits the audio, Jesse Ball, who posts the content, and Jackie Salinas, who posts the podcast to various platforms, and transcribes the audio to make it accessible to all.