Governor Gretchen Whitmer this week highlighted the first 21 state highway projects starting in Michigan as part of the 2021 construction season, and at the top of the list is the completion of US-31 to connect it to I-94 in Berrien County. Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson Nick Schirripa tells WSJM News the $121 million project got rolling for the year last week with work on the I-94 Business Loop in Benton Harbor.
“Coming up in the next few weeks, you’ll probably start to see work on I-94 itself start between Britain Avenue and just east of I-196,” Schirripa said. “We’re going to be rebuilding that, rebuilding two interchanges.”
Construction on bridges over the highway took place over the winter. Schirripa says the project is about 30 years in the making.
“This goes back 30, 40 years. The work we’re finishing now was halted about 20 years ago for various environmental reasons, design reasons. We’ve had the project design ready to go and we just needed funding.”
How much of the work will be done this year?
“If you want to do simple fractions, I would say two thirds. By the end of this year, we’ll be two thirds of the way there. Next year will be the last year of construction,” Schirripa said.
Schirripa says there will be three consecutive weekends this year during which the highway will have to totally shut down, and everyone will be given advance notice. Once the project is finished, he says you’ll be able to get on US-31 in Lexington, Kentucky and stay on highways all the way up to the Mackinac Bridge. MDOT has put up a website to showcase the project and tell its story.
