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No end in sight for freeway floods on I-94, I-75
It's going to be a while before the flooding recedes from some of Detroit's most flood-prone freeways after weekend storms dropped enough water to blanket main roads coming in and out of the city. And once the water does recede, there will be plenty of cleanup before they reopen.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Late Friday night, several inches of rain fell in Metro Detroit and the areas along I-94 were hit the hardest, specifically between Grand Boulevard and Michigan Ave. As the freeways flooded and cars were trapped, the images seen Saturday morning were stunning.
Four days later, the freeways are still closed but the water has been pumped out. Crews worked furiously from Saturday morning through Tuesday to clean up both sides of the freeway.
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While the annual storm that brings flooding to Metro Detroit once every spring arrived a little late this year, it still packed a punch over the weekend when up to seven inches of rain fell in parts of Detroit and Wayne County.
Tuesday afternoon, the Michigan Department of Transportation said it planned to reopen the westbound lanes of the freeway after four days of being closed. A total of three lanes will be open around 4 p.m. on Tuesday for most of the stretch between W. Grand Blvd and Michigan Ave/U.S. 12.
The only exception for the westbound lanes is the area near W. Grand Blvd, which is still going to be narrowed to two lanes. The eastbound ramp to I-96 and to westbound I-94 will remain closed during the repairs.
There is a bit of good news about those sections: they are expected to be reopened in time for the holiday weekend.
As for the eastbound lanes, that's going to be a lot longer. Possibly weeks before that side of the freeway is open again.
MDOT said that side of the freeway needs extensive repairs in a few different areas, which may take more than a week - or more - to complete.
That would mean the closure would last until mid-July at the very latest. Three weeks after the roads were flooded.
In the meantime, the detour for drivers around the eastbound closure is to take Michigan Ave into Detroit or northbound Southfield Freeway to eastbound I-96 to eastbound I-94.
Either way, you're going to have to be patient if heading east through Detroit.