DETROIT — The holiday weekend brought a brief pause to Michigan’s orange barrel season, but drivers across Metro Detroit will once again face detours and delays as road construction closures resume starting Tuesday, September 2.

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), several major projects that were temporarily halted for the Labor Day holiday are now back underway, with additional closures across Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

In Macomb County, eastbound and westbound Henry B. Joy Boulevard at Interstate 94 in Harrison Township will be shut down beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday. The closure will remain in place until 7 a.m. Friday, September 12. Crews are addressing damage to the westbound I-94 bridge caused by a high-load impact nearly a year ago.

Eastbound drivers will be detoured to southbound M-3 (Gratiot Avenue), southbound Market Street, eastbound North River Road, and northbound Irwin Drive. Westbound traffic will be rerouted to southbound Irwin Drive, westbound North River Road, and then northbound M-3 (Gratiot Avenue).

In Oakland County, closures are tied to the ongoing $160 million Interstate 75 resurfacing project between M-15 and the Oakland/Genesee County line. Starting Tuesday, crews will close southbound I-75 Exit 91 to M-15 along with the southbound M-15 entrance ramp. Both are expected to reopen in late fall. Drivers will need to take southbound Exit 89 to Sashabaw Road, then westbound Waldon Road to reconnect with M-15.

Additional Oakland County restrictions include:

• Southbound I-75 Exit 106 to Dixie Highway and the southbound Saginaw Road ramp, closing September 5 until late fall.
• Southbound I-75 reduced to one lane from Saginaw Road to Belford Road between September 5–8.
• Two-lane traffic in both directions between Baldwin and Clarkston roads.
• Extended ramp closures until late fall at I-75 Exits 98 (East Holly Road) and 93 (US-24/Dixie Highway). Entrance ramp closures will also affect north and southbound East Holly Road, southbound Grange Hall Road, north and southbound US-24/Dixie Highway, and northbound Dixie Highway/Saginaw Road.

In Wayne County, southbound I-75 in Detroit will face weekend closures between Clark Avenue and Schaefer Road over the first two weekends of September. The shutdowns will allow crews to add protective surfaces to four bridges and apply an epoxy overlay to the I-75 Rouge River Bridge.

Closures will take place:

• 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 through 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 8
• 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 through 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15

All on-ramps to southbound I-75 will also be closed during this period. The official detour route will take drivers westbound on I-96, westbound on I-94, and southbound on I-275 to reconnect with I-75. For local traffic, M-85 (Fort Street) will serve as an alternate route, MDOT officials confirmed.

Beyond the major closures, MDOT also announced the launch of preventive crack seal treatments across Metro Detroit beginning Tuesday. The work will span 168 lane miles in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties and is scheduled for completion by late October.

Roadways affected by the crack sealing include:

• The I-696 service drive
• Sections of Interstate-94
• M-102 (8 Mile Road)
• Old M-14 (Plymouth Road)
• M-153 (Ford Road)
• The carpool lot at eastbound Interstate-96/Schoolcraft Road and US-24/Telegraph Road

Motorists should expect moving single- and double-lane closures overnight, with the exception of I-94, where daytime lane reductions may occur.

While drivers may be frustrated with renewed closures following the holiday, MDOT officials emphasized that the improvements are part of critical infrastructure upgrades aimed at improving long-term safety and traffic flow across the region.

Originally reported by Candice Williams in The Detroit News.