OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 The construction on I-696 in Oakland County is on track, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). However, a new phase will affect the exit and entrance ramps along westbound I-696.<\/p>\n
Around 100,000 drivers traveling eastbound were diverted earlier this year. Now, it\u2019s time for around 100,000 westbound drivers to be diverted.<\/p>\n
Westbound I-696 ramp closures will be a new issue, but first, we have to get through the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to come through the weekend, you\u2019ll be forced northbound\/southbound 75,\u201d said Diane Cross from MDOT.<\/p>\n
If the weather cooperates, drivers will soon face new challenges on I-696 in Oakland County.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Friday night, we close all on-ramps on westbound 696 from 75 to M-10. Then on Saturday morning, we close the freeway at I-75, westbound 696 will be closed at 75, and that\u2019s when we start doing the work of shifting in the barrier,\u201d said Cross.<\/p>\n
When that\u2019s finished, starting Sunday night or Monday morning, westbound I-696 traffic will be shifted to the newly built eastbound side.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is going to notice a difference; it\u2019s going to feel good under the tires, but the problem is we\u2019re only going to let you get off on two locations: Woodward and Southfield Road,\u201d Cross said.<\/p>\n
Ramp closures<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s where it gets tricky.<\/p>\n
Besides Woodward and Southfield, all westbound ramps, including Campbell-Hilton, Coolidge, Greenfield and Evergreen will be closed. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe real impact effect to drivers will be they won\u2019t be able to exit and enter on the ramps they\u2019re used to, which means there will be a lot do break-tapping, it can start a domino effect, more likely to get rear-end crashes,\u201d said Cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it more difficult because you have to take alternate routes, but ultimately the construction will be worth it, and it will be more efficient in the end,\u201d said one driver.<\/p>\n
The ramps will be closed through late 2026. The weather has been a big issue this week. These cold temps are affecting concrete, joint sealing, and pavement markings. <\/p>\n
If MDOT can\u2019t get it all done by Friday, they\u2019ll push it to the following weekend on Nov. 21.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 The construction on I-696 in Oakland County is on track, according to the Michigan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[31220,143,904,145,144,821],"class_list":["post-48015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-i-696","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}