GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The plan sounded simple enough: Add a ramp from M-21 Fulton Street to eastbound I-96. Work would begin in April and be done by mid-September. Instead of a long-term lane closure, two lanes of traffic would be shifted to allow room for the project.
It seems these days nothing is ever simple.
The traffic shift was accomplished well enough, and work began with earth being moved around to create the slope for the ramp.
Then … work stopped. Weeks went by with no discernible progress.
Drivers began wondering what was going on.
“Once crews got into it, they discovered the soils were not as stable as we initially thought,” relates MDOT Grand Region spokesperson John Richard.
More time was needed, and more materials, to deal with new conditions.
“Instead of trying to accommodate an already very tight schedule, they closed up shop for the year.”
The original plan was to eventually connect the new Fulton Street on-ramp with the Cascade Road off-ramp with a new lane, but not right away. The new plan, once work begins again, is to go ahead and complete the weave-merge lane. Drivers will have more room to merge into through traffic, hop on the freeway from Fulton and get off at Cascade, or more room to exit from 96 to Cascade Road.
The long-term plan for the 96/M-21 interchange is a new exit ramp from westbound I-96.
For now, “we'll start up in the spring again,” says Richard.
And that’s what’s up with I-96 at Fulton Street.
