Project begins on Woodhaven train crossing solution on Allen Road | FOX 2 Detroit
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Project begins on Woodhaven train crossing solution on Allen Road

By Taneisha Cordell and David Komer
Published  April 15, 2025 7:28pm EDT
Woodhaven
FOX 2 Detroit

Train track delay solution finally comes to Allen Road in Downriver

Everyday – Allen Road sees more than 30,000 vehicles and often – for years – their commutes have been halted for as long as 45 minutes by trains heading to a Canadian Flat Rock yard.

The Brief

    • The Allen Road train track crossing in Woodhaven is infamous for stopping traffic at intervals lasting nearly an hour on average.
    • The long-time nuisance is finally being addressed with Tuesday's groundbreaking of a road project.
    • The train tracks will be lifted with a bridge running above Allen Road, providing passage to the nearby schools and hospital.

WOODHAVEN, Mich. (FOX 2) - It's been a major headache for years — trains blocking traffic for nearly an hour in Woodhaven. But today, relief is finally on the way.

The backstory:

Crews broke ground on a project decades in the making Downriver along Allen Road.

But first the Wayne County Department of Public Services team moved Verizon phone lines out of the way underground.

"This is the first of many projects that will be going on as part of the Big Allen Road Great Separation Project," said Oladayo Akinyemi.

Akinyemi, the director of public services, says it’s the first of many projects - totaling $65-million dollars – confronting the major traffic headache at the train crossing.  

"The school is on the other side of the track, the hospital is on the other side of the track, essential services," he said. "The time has come to relieve this problem."

Everyday – Allen Road sees more than 30,000 vehicles and often – for years – their commutes have been halted for as long as 45 minutes by trains heading to a Canadian Flat Rock yard.

County renderings reveal the solution ahead - raising the rail line up over the road. But crews first have to finish moving utility lines.

"Once we get that done, hopefully by the end of the week next week, the gas main relocation will begin," Akinyemi said.

These smaller projects are expected to wrap up by the end of fall and that’s when traffic impacts will hit, due to the start of sewer and water main relocations.

"We anticipate there will be at least one lane open in each direction," he said. "At some point, in about a year from now, there will be a complete closure and diversion of traffic, but we are a long ways away from there."

The final product is set a deadline of about two and a half years. In the meantime, this team is welcoming community feedback through 888-ROADCREW.

"We want people to be prepared to have some patience," he said. "This is a temporary problem for a long-time solution."

The Source: Information for this story came from the Wayne County Department of Public Services.

Artist rendering of the Allen Road project goal. 


 

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