SB I-75 shutdown from Detroit to Downriver starts Saturday

(WJBK) - The two year headache starts Saturday as the Michigan Department of transportation will close southbound I-75 from Springwells in southwest Detroit to North Line in Southgate.

"It's going to set back everybody and try to tear it up," said one man

Call it the countdown to shutdown.

"It will be a big headache, the traffic will be jammed up and you've got to take a different detour," said one woman. "It'll be crazy."

As bad as it may be - it's good to have some perspective. MDOT will spend about $200 million the next two years repairing damage on the Rouge River Bridge and potholes near Springwells.

They are shutting down I-75 to keep it from crumbling and from craters ruining your ride.

"This work is incredibly important and has been in the works for many, many, years," said Diane Cross, Mdot spokesperson. "So the first year in 2017 it's the two big ones: the Rouge and the Goddard bridges. Then in 2018 we're repairing all of the other bridges from near Rouge all the way down to Gilbraltar." 

Northbound I-75 and access to the Ambassador Bridge will remain open for the next two years. The detour for SB I-75 will begin at I-96 in Detroit to North Line Road -- that's for 2017.

Next year the detour will be from I-96 to Sibley Road.

"I take the best routes I can, so I make adjustments, that's the only thing I can do," said another man.

"I need I-75 because that's the only way I take to go to work I don't have time to be taking these streets," said one woman. 

But drivers have even less time for bad bridges even if the fix is tough to swallow.

The work on I-75 won't just make bridges safer but the freeway smarter, MDOT will install cameras and adding electronic signs, cameras and traffic information so it can better relay travel times and mobility issues to drivers.

So far, on Fort Street under I-75 it is down to one lane after false decking was installed that way once construction is started on the Rouge River Bridge to shield cars from falling debris.

For more information on the closure, CLICK HERE.