TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - The clock is ticking down to a major road closure that will affect drivers trying to get home to Toledo.
Michigan Department of Transportation leaders have chosen a 50-mile detour to get around an Interstate 75 project because it can best handle the increase in traffic.
It's the road work that many drivers are dreading and while others not even know about it.
Starting on Saturday, the Rouge River bridge will close its southbound lanes.
Anyone who drives to Detroit will see plenty of orange barrels, but also many signs to warn drivers of what's about to happen.
The Rouge River bridge, just south of downtown, is getting a new bridge deck. That will force the closing of the southbound lanes between I-96 and Northline Road for almost two years.
Crews have been installing plywood underneath the bridge to catch any falling debris.
Diane Cross, MDOT spokesperson, said they are getting ready to shut things down.
"They've been covering and uncovering signs because you use signs as you drive, to know where you're going," Cross said. "We don't want to have a 75 sign and a detour sign next to each other. That would be confusing."
The northbound lanes will stay open throughout the project. But going south of out Detroit, you'll have to use the detour. It's a 50-mile trip that will take drivers on I-96 west out of Detroit to I-275 south, to I-75 south in northern Monroe County.
For many drivers, it will be tempting to find alternate routes but as Cross explained, that could get you stuck in traffic.
"Some may try getting off at Southfield, that's M-39, or Telegraph, that's U.S. 24, and then make their way south," Cross said. "Some may even try I-94 west. You need to keep in mind that freeway is already at capacity."
MDOT expects the chaos of 'which way is the best way to go' to die down after about two weeks.
Johnny Vann drives a truck through Toledo every day and said, "Oh, it's going to be rough. It's going to be rough for drivers. That's crazy. That's a long way out of the way."
Rodney Conway drives to Lima twice a week and said, "I get paid by the hour! Make it 80 miles!"
But he admitted it will affect deliveries of cars that he has to make.
"Oh yeah, it's going to affect the truckers, it's going to affect the delivery. Especially the truckers that have to deliver on time, a certain date, a certain time," said Conway.
The Rouge River bridge is the largest in Michigan and gets 36 million vehicles a year.
