Pilot project coming to I-94 next week will make it 'world's most sophisticated roadway'
BELLEVILLE, Mich. (FOX 2) - One of the incoming road construction projects expected to start next week will be unlike anything Michigan has installed in its highways before.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 7, the shoulder of I-94 traveling westbound in western Wayne County will be closed for the installation of a pilot project focused around automated vehicles.
Workers will be prepping the site before closing the left lane entirely for resurfacing worker that will reopen in November.
Working in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation, a mobility company called Cavnue will work to equip the left lane of I-94 between Belleville and Rawsonville roads with digital infrastructure that can support and connect to automated vehicles (CAV).
The proposed CAV corridor was proposed as the "world's most sophisticated roadway" that would connect to buses, vans, shuttles, and is part of a larger plan of connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit. It will allow a mix of autonomous vehicles, traditional transit vehicles, as well as freight and personal transportation options as well.
The route was selected to include other stops along the way, like Detroit Wayne Airport, Michigan Central Station, and the University of Michigan.
MORE: Artificial intelligence helping to turn Woodward Avenue into 'M-1 Intelligent Corridor'
From there, construction will move east toward Detroit, slowly adding more of I-94 from western Wayne County then the eastern portion of Washtenaw County. It'll end with connecting it to Ann Arbor.
You can learn more about the project here.
As for road closures, no lanes will be shut down with work begins next week. It'll be completed by early September. Afterward crews will close the left lane of I-94 and widen the roadway and resurface the lane. It'll reopen in November.