The I-75 Modernization project continues to make progress. Last week we announced that tunneling operations have resumed as well as the reopening of the Lincoln Avenue bridge over I-75. In this video you get a bird’s eye view of the Lincoln Avenue bridge prior to opening, cleanup efforts at the Ground Movement Zone, and progress at the I-696/I-75 "Braid" interchange, and 12 Mile Road diverging diamond interchange.  Stay tuned for additional updates.    

Work at the 12 Mile Road and I-75 interchange continues to progress. In this video, you can see changes as crews continue to build out the center piers for the northbound I-75 bridge over 12 Mile Road, as well as the rebuilding of the ramps starting to take shape.     

The 12 Mile Road diverging diamond interchange (DDI) will bring a design that improves safety and mobility. For more about DDIs and how they work, please visit our website: http://modernize75.com/Project-Highlights-DDI. 

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the team we are happy to announce tunneling operations have resumed. This spring, crews were able to access the original Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) via the repair shaft and removed it. The contracting crews then lowered in a new TBM (utilizing some parts from the original) allowing them to resume tunneling approximately 100 feet underground.     

The TBM is now mining northward on its path to the 12 Mile Road pump station site.  The TBM will then be removed from the 12 Mile Road pump station shaft, be relocated back to the launch site at the I-696 interchange and begin working its way south to the Meyers Avenue shaft site.  After the TBM has completed its job in late 2023, it will be removed from the ground and decommissioned as crews complete pump station and drop shaft work and finalize the tunnel drainage system.    

To learn more about the Tunnel, please visit our dedicated webpage here:    http://modernize75.com/Project-Highlights-Tunnel   

Crew members on underground locomotive car to be transported to the TBM for shift change

The existing entrance ramp from I-696 to northbound I-75 and the I-75 exit ramp to 11 Mile Road requires traffic to merge and weave to get to their destination roadways, which frequently causes back-ups and crashes due to the volume of traffic making these movements.   

The new design will reconfigure these ramps using a “Braid” design, eliminating the weave that currently occurs by separating the movements. The northbound I-75 exit ramp to 11 Mile Road will braid under the new I-696 bridge to the northbound service drive. The incoming I-696 traffic to northbound I-75 will utilize the new bridge over the 11 Mile exit ramp for a safer connection.  See below graphic for an illustration on these new movements.  

To allow for this change, the Dallas Avenue Bridge had to be removed (2019), and temporary closures occurred this year on the ramps from I-696 (both eastbound and westbound) and on the northbound I-75 exit ramp to 11 Mile Road.  Work on this safer ramp design is anticipated to be completed by mid-November 2022.     

Click image to view full size

Additional resources:

• Northbound I-75 at 11 Mile Road Interchange Engineering Drawing    
• Northbound I-75 at 11 Mile Road Interchange Proposed Rendering