Libby McDonald’s business, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, sits on the side of 28th Street that’s going to be torn up and resurfaced first.
“Of course I am a little concerned about construction in general. It makes it harder for people to get here. However, they assured us one lane in each direction will be open,” McDonald said.
Starting Wednesday night, the eastbound ramp of I-96 to 28th Street will close.
That will affect 28th Street from I-96 to Patterson Avenue until late June. Instead of complaining, McDonald is embracing it.
She’s even put on construction-themed specials.
“[We have] 15% for construction workers and then fun Facebook deals to people in here, to get people excited about coming in here,” she explained.
Crews will shift the eastbound lanes of 28th Street over to the westbound side of the road.
There will be one lane in each direction. Some left turn lanes will still be in place.
MDOT says it’s best to plan ahead. “I don’t anticipate it being a huge problem, but we’ll take it as it comes,” McDonald said.
Drivers should expect backups. This is a 3-phase project which won’t entirely wrap up until the fall.
It’s going to cost around $9.75 million.
FOX 17 traffic reporter Robb Westaby will be live on the route to gauge the congestion during the morning commute on FOX 17 Morning News, starting at 5 am.
