Drivers on Ann Arbor's north side can expect a summer of road construction headaches

In the meantime, drivers should leave early or shift their normal route due to a number of concurrent road construction projects on the city's north side, said Homayoon Pirooz, head of the city’s project management unit.

“There’s always more than one way to get to your destination,” Pirooz said. “Avoiding Plymouth Road for a few months will help the workers complete the projects faster and in a safer environment.”

About 25,000 cars use Plymouth Road each day, Pirooz said, and it hasn’t been resurfaced since 1984.

“It was in poor shape and still is, but when they’re done, hopefully it will be in pretty good shape for many years to come,” Pirooz said.

For those who live and work in the area, driving will be a hassle through the summer.

An instructor at Yourist Studio Gallery at 1133 Broadway St. met an unexpected 45-minute traffic delay near the US-23 exit at Plymouth Road on Thursday. On Tuesday, workers had begun resurfacing the road there, and traffic was reduced from five lanes to two for almost a mile.

Studio monitor Renee Baxter said the construction isn’t impacting business - most who come through the studio’s doors are using the space to work on pottery or ceramics or have signed up for classes. Most are Ann Arbor residents used to re-routing, she said.

“But the problem with the north side is that all the alternate routes seem to have construction. You really have to take wide alternate routes,” she said.

Not far from Plymouth Road, the northbound exit ramp and the southbound entrance ramp at Geddes Road and US-23 are closed for a roundabout project.

The east roundabout on Geddes Road and US-23 is taking shape.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

George Lavoie, a research scientist who lives and works on the north side, said construction around the Plymouth and Geddes US-23 ramps has made getting around confusing - he can’t figure out a good way to go northeast out of town.

And given all the projects, he said he’d like to see clearer signs showing alternate routes.

“I feel bad for the people who have to head that way every day,” he said. “I don’t know how they do it.”

Construction projects and closures include:

• A roundabout under construction off US-23 at Geddes Road means the northbound exit ramp is closed, though it should be open in the next week.Traffic is being detoured to the US-23 and Plymouth Road interchange, which is undergoing a city resurfacing project that has squeezed five lanes into two.

“It’s unfortunate we had to do that but we had no choice,” said David Dykman, a project manager for Ann Arbor. Funds had to be spent this construction season, he said.

The southbound entrance ramp from Geddes Road to US-23 is also closed. Drivers will need to make their way down to Washtenaw Avenue to hop on US-23 south, Dykman said.
That closure will remain in place until the fall.

Two more roundabouts are planned for the opposite side of the freeway. Construction on a roundabout at the entrance and exit ramps of US-23 at Geddes Road, and at the intersection of Geddes and Earhart roads, will start concurrently in the next few weeks.

Overall, the roundabouts are part of a larger $5.3 million Michigan Department of Transportation project funded with a combination of city, state and federal dollars. It will also include a new pedestrian bridge between Dixboro to Earhart roads over US-23 and a pathway on the south side of Geddes Road between Earhart and Dixboro.

• Last Tuesday, workers began a resurfacing project on almost a mile of Plymouth Road from Nixon to US-23. Through Sept. 3, that stretch will be reduced from five to two lanes. Then the next phase of that project begins and includes the resurfacing of Green Road between Plymouth and Baxter roads. The total project will cost $2.7 million - $2.3 million of the funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, with the city paying the remainder, Pirooz said. The Green Road resurfacing phase is scheduled for completion in November.

• A smaller resurfacing project spans 1,000 feet along Plymouth Road near Broadway, which should be complete by about July 16, though the orange barrels stretch much further than that. Until then, there will be one lane of traffic in each direction, Pirooz said. Resurfacing projects also include curb and gutter fixes, he said. 

A number of street resurfacing projects will follow, with more information available on the City of Ann Arbor website.

Juliana Keeping is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com or 734-623-2528. Follow Juliana Keeping on Twitter