TOLEDO, Ohio — If you travel through north Toledo, heads up, you're going to have a new traffic headache to deal with as a part of I-75 south will have to be closed for 10 days.
A recently finished project already needs repair.
If you've driven I-75 southbound from Michigan to Ohio recently, you know, you've gone from a construction zone to a bumpy ride.
The split at I-280 and I-75 was reconfigured back in 2017.
You used to have to cut all the way across the highway to get to the exit at Stickney and LaGrange.
Engineers planned what's called a weave interchange replacement to improve safety.
The materials that were used on the new configuration however didn't settle quite right, so now crews have to go back to smooth it out.
"Michigan has I-75 reduced to two lanes, so we're going to extend that, so it'll be reduced to two lanes until you get closer to I-280 and then that's where we'll still have two lanes because that allows one lane to go to I-280, and one to take this detour," said Rebecca Dangelo, spokesperson and Public Information Officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Part of I-75 southbound over I-280 will be closed for about 10 days.
The exit ramp for the Stickney/LaGrange exit runs parallel with where the road will be closed and you can detour by staying left on the ramp to cut across and just not taking the exit.
Work starts Friday, October fourth at 9 p.m.
"It's going to be a long ten days, but our intent was to get in, fix this, make it right, and then get out as quickly as possible," said Dangelo.
This should be the last major project ODOT starts in our area this year.
The department chose to work on an accelerated schedule and close the road rather than cutting it down to one lane, in order to make sure the paving is done before it gets too cold or winter weather hits, and the asphalt is unable to set.
More information on the project can be found here.