Most road work stops for Labor Day weekend
August 29, 2012 — To make travel more convenient for motorists, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is removing lane restrictions and opening lanes on the majority of MDOT projects for the Labor Day weekend. Beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31, and continuing until 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 4, 115 of 159 projects statewide will have lane restrictions removed. This will make travel easier for the 1.2 million motorists that AAA Michigan estimates will travel at least 50 miles away from home during the popular end-of-the-summer holiday.
“While most of our work zones will be inactive, we have no choice but to leave some lane restrictions in effect this weekend,” said State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle. “Please use extra caution driving in work zones and make it to your Labor Day destination safely.”
MDOT is responsible for nearly 10,000 miles of state highways which carry more than 50 percent of all traffic and approximately 70 percent of commercial truck traffic in Michigan.
While many construction zones may be inactive for the holiday, motorists can expect to see safety belt enforcement zones in full swing across the state. Michigan State Police, county sheriff’s departments, and local police agencies are teaming up to make seat belt enforcement a priority. Buckle up and make it home safely.
Motorists also are encouraged to regularly check MDOT’s popular Mi Drive traffic Web site (www.michigan.gov/drive) for traffic incident alerts, live traffic Web cams, and additional construction information.
During the Labor Day holiday weekend, the following 44 work zones will have active lane restrictions in place:
Upper Peninsula
– M-26 in Tamarack City, Houghton County, has one lane open in each direction with narrow lanes and closed shoulders.
– M-94 in Manistique, Schoolcraft County, is detoured on city streets.
– US-2 in Iron River, Iron County, is detoured on city streets.
– US-2/US-41 north of Gladstone, Delta County, has one lane open in each direction on the bridges over the CN Railroad.
– US-41, Marquette County, has one lane open in each direction between Harvey and Marquette.