Through My Dirty Windshield

A large construction crane will block Michigan Street in downtown Grand Rapids this weekend so that Wolverine Construction crews can place the main frame of a pedestrian bridge overhead between parking on the north side of the street and the new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital on the south side.

MICHIGAN ST will be closed between COIT AVE and BOSTWICK AVE from 6 p.m. Friday (3/12) until 6 p.m. Sunday (3/14).

(Pictured: hospital construction in an earlier stage.)

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US-31 in Muskegon will be briefly closed twice in the next few days for utility work.

NORTHBOUND US-31 between the TRI-LEVEL/BUSINESS US-31 and HOLTON RD/M-120 will be closed for 15 minutes sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Saturday (3/13).

SOUTHBOUND US-31 south of HOLTON RD/M-120 will be closed for 15 minutes on Monday (3/15) between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

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In Lowell, prep work will begin on Monday (3/15) on the M-21 bridge over the Flat River.

Lanes will remain open in both directions during the entire project, which will concentrate on cosmetic improvements.

While fog barely affected drivers in West Michigan this morning, something was affecting drivers in Zeeland.

At one point, I-196 Business Loop, eastbound lanes of the four-lane highway the runs east-west between I-196 and Holland, were blocked by accidents at two different locations: State Street (five cars!) and 100th Avenue.

To make matters worse, a nearly simultaneous rollover east of the Zeeland rest area block part of eastbound I-196 at Mile Marker 59.

Was it the sun in everyone's eyes?

Elsewhere, fog got a little thick in scattered areas of the region, but the only crash of note was at Belding Road and Wabasis Avenue.

Two mornings out of three this week, the commute began with car fires. No injuries, and nothing that holds up traffic, since they were both at 5 a.m.

But car fires?

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The barrels go out and eventually eastbound traffic will be shifted to share the westbound pavement with oncoming traffic so that one of the roughest sections of I-96 can be replaced.

Re-construction of eastbound I-96 from the Wacousta Road overpass to the M-43/Saginaw Highway Exit 93 will last through July, with the westbound lanes done by November.

MDOT says two lanes will be open in both direction throughout the project and all ramps will remain open, but I expect lane closures occasionally, especially at night.



View I-96 Construction West of Lansing in a larger map

 

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One of our sources for traffic information, INRIX, ranks the Grand Rapids metropolitan area #77 for bad traffic in the nation.

We're right behind Chattanooga.

Worst is Los Angeles (big surprise), and Detroit is 19th. And I love the fact that we have, by INRIX criteria, one percent of the congestion that LA has.

This may be one list that residents would not mind dropping farther in national rankings.

We're #77!

Take a look.