GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) began a major construction project on a portion of US-131 on March 31.
The construction has caused traffic delays and more congested roadways during commutes due to the closure of the northbound lane.
It is addressing the two bridges over Plaster Creek to fix joints and rehabilitate the bridges, which still have their original pavement from the 1950s and 1960s. MDOT officials have called it an "extremely necessary fix."
On Thursday and Friday, the Grand Rapids area is expected to get nearly two inches of rainfall, which could cause localized flooding and bring construction projects to a halt.
Art Green, the manager of Grand Rapids Transportation Service Center for MDOT, said that while the upcoming rain may cause delays, it won't push back the completion date for the US-131 construction.
"When setting up our project schedules, we do set up some flexibility for weather," Green said.
With Michigan's often unpredictable weather, Green said officials take this into account when planning projects.
"Our contractors perform their work to MDOT specification which includes planning work to adhere to our climate and weather conditions," Green said. "Our MDOT oversight staff and our contractors work together to ensure that our work is at a stable condition in advance of pending weather and other specific work location conditions."
For the US-131 project, plans were put in place to ensure the weather won't impact what has already been done.
"The road repair operations will be performed and planned to be at a point in the curing process to as not to be impacted by the rain or the work will be covered to ensure the water from rain will not impact the curing process," Green said.
The first phase of the US-131 construction, which is addressing the northbound lane, is expected to wrap up by April 25. Construction will then begin on the southbound lane and is anticipated to last about four weeks.
Find more about the construction and detours here.
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