A $205 million Michigan interstate project designed to make travel safer and smoother is on track for completion this fall. The improvement project on U.S. 127 between Interstates 496 and 69 is taking place in a heavily trafficked area that traverses the state capitol in Lansing to the west and Michigan State University in East Lansing to the east.
Michigan DOT photo
"It's a major commuter route for everybody that goes anywhere north/south," said Chris Gemble, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) assistant construction engineer. "If they're coming down to Jackson or perhaps traveling somewhere in Detroit, they're probably going to come through the area if they're up in the northwest part of Michigan. Likewise, if they're coming through the corridor west to east or east to west, 96 is how they travel. So, there's a lot of impacts not just for the community surrounding the project, but the motorists that come through."
The project, which was awarded to Toebe Construction, began in 2023 with the maintenance of traffic (MOT) plan. Construction on the northbound lanes began in 2024. The 3.7-mi. stretch includes 18 bridge structures, plus two large box culverts — one 8 by 8 ft., the other 14 by 10 ft. — beneath the interstate. The northbound work has been completed and work on the southbound lanes is ongoing. Work on about half of the structures has been completed. Of the 18, six need full reconstruction and the others partial reconstruction or rehabilitation.
"One of the main upgrades is we're adding a third lane for the majority of the stretch of the project," Gembel said. "All of the structures that are in between the southernmost part of the project and right up by the Trowbridge area needed to be widened, and so we're basically adding a beam line on each of them. And then, obviously, you reconstruct that portion of the deck. We want to upgrade and rehabilitate the rest of the deck, and anything else that relatively warrants it. And then once we get up around the Trowbridge area, which is kind of a segue way into Michigan State University, and right where 127 splits off to Lansing, all those structures have come to the end of what you consider their service life. So, nearly all of those are being reconstructed, including the big ramp that goes into MSU. Those are full reconstructs."
The biggest challenge on the project is that it intersects with two major freeways on both ends with half of the ramps closed at any given time, Gembel said. That raises a lot of questions from travelers about the project and their restricted access. The best way to deal with the challenges is to make sure MDOT gets the word out about the project early and keeps the communication lines open during the project, he said.
Michigan DOT photo
"I think our partnership with the contractors made the project move just about as well as you could ask," he said. "For the rest of us, it became almost the predominant workload to make sure that we're satisfying what the public wants to see during construction. Being able to explain the why has always been the biggest challenge. I was very fortunate last year that the project, from a constructability standpoint, was running fluid."
While there is nothing particularly unusual or unique about the project, one notable aspect that everyone seems to notice is the equipment, Gembel said.
"There is every piece of equipment that you can want for any build out there. This project has just about every element you can have in a construction project. We have huge culverts. We have structural rehabilitation, structural reconstruction. There's both HMA [hot mix asphalt] and concrete. Although it is a concrete project, our maintenance of traffic is all HMA, so it's a significant amount of HMA construction. I couldn't tell you how many cranes they had out there, but there's a lot, and last year, it was kind of a spectacle. It really made it look fantastic when you went through there ... I don't know that there's a piece of equipment that wasn't used."
Following the completion of this project, two additional projects are planned. The next project, rebuilding U.S. 127 from Lake Lansing Road to I-69, will go out for bid in the fall, and the third, rebuilding U.S.127 from I-496 to Lake Lansing Road, is expected to take place in 2027-2028.
The projects are part of the state's Rebuilding Michigan program "to rebuild the state highways and bridges that are critical to the state's economy and carry the most traffic. The investment strategy is aimed at fixes that result in longer useful lives and improves the condition of the state's infrastructure." CEG
