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NOVI — The flex lanes on Interstate 96 in Oakland County are now open.
The Michigan Department of Transportation issued a press release that the I-96 Flex Route, which goes along I-96 between Kent Lake Road and the Interstate 275/Interstate 696/M-5 interchange, would open March 19.
“Flex routes make use of the current road infrastructure to address directional congestion (heavy commuter traffic in one direction in the morning, then the other direction in the evening) at a much lower cost than building new lanes and shoulders, as well as widening bridges/overpasses and purchasing all the needed right of way to make room for such expansion,” MDOT said in the press release.
The I-96 Flex Route is designed to help maintain traffic flow during peak hours and increase road safety and efficiency by opening an additional lane that at other times of the day serves as the left shoulder.
The additional lanes will be open on eastbound I-96 for the morning rush hours from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and on westbound I-96 they will be open from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. to handle the evening rush. The lanes will also be open as deemed necessary to allow traffic to move smoothly when there is a traffic crash.
The flex lane can only be used when electronic signs above the lane display a green arrow. When the signs display a red X, motorists may not use the flex lane.
Novi Mayor Justin Fischer said that the I-96 Flex Route area definitely saw a lot of congestion during peak times over the years.
Novi police officer Anthony Avant, who is specially certified in traffic policing, said that the city has seen a lot of highway traffic spill onto the city roads as a result of various situations.
“Sometimes, depending on if it’s rush hour, you’ll get the backups — morning rush hour, evening, if there is a traffic crash on the freeway or if multiple lanes are closed, you get the traffic backup (onto city roads),” Avant said.
“I’m hoping that they (flex lanes) will improve traffic flow and reduce congestion for area residents during peak hours,” Fischer said.
Avant said he thinks it will help the city to better manage event traffic, especially traffic going to and from the Suburban Collection Showplace, and especially during the biannual Motor City Comic Con and the Michigan State Fair, which he said generally cause a lot of traffic backups.
“I think it will be helpful when we have the big events here,” Avant said. ‘Coming in May, we have the (Motor City) Comic Con, it’s usually in mid-May (May 16-18 this year) one of the weekends, and it draws a lot of people, and generally the traffic backs up on the freeway and even onto the mile roads here in the city. So, I think that will be helpful in terms of people who are not attending the event, who are just using the freeway to go from point A to point B. It will be helpful to those people to just have the flex lane open, that way they don’t get caught up in the event traffic and continue on to whatever destination they are headed.”
He said that the ability to have the flex lanes open during weekend events is something the local police will have to coordinate with the Michigan State Police and MDOT.
Suggested speed limits will also be posted on electronic signs in the I-96 Flex Route in an effort to reduce the number of crashes and to slow traffic before it reaches a congested area.
“We’ve already seen some benefits since the major construction has been complete, but we’re excited that the flex lanes will finally be operational so that the full capacity of this project will be seen,” Fischer said.
Flex routes are monitored by MDOT’S Transportation Operations Centers, which are manned at all times by both MDOT and Michigan State Police dispatchers. This allows the agencies to share resources and information.
“The agencies share resources and information by monitoring traffic sensors, distress calls and video feeds from closed-circuit TV cameras,” the MDOT press release states. “Not only do overhead signs indicate when the flex lanes are open, but they also allow TOC operators to direct traffic around incidents that block a lane.”
The ramp meters, another feature of the I-96 Flex Route, will be activated soon, according to the press release. ·
Ramp meters are traffic signals that have been placed where vehicles merge with freeway traffic. This will allow MDOT to better manage the flow of traffic entering the freeway during periods of heavy congestion, the release states.
When activated, drivers will only enter the freeway when the light is green. According to the release, this helps reduce stop-and-go traffic as well as crashes, thus improving traffic flow.
Avant said that there is a potential for the ramp delays to cause a backup of traffic onto main roads depending on the time of day, but the sensors have to determine when the cars can safely merge and to what extent they can safely remain red before cycling green.
“It’s all a new system and MDOT and the state police will pretty much be responsible with their sensors to determine if the lights need to be cycled sooner or slower, or they just have to wait to see,” he said. “I guess that’s something that I guess they’ll monitor and make adjustments accordingly. Like I said, this is all new, so there are going to be adjustments and once it’s up and running, it will need to be reevaluated, tweak it up a little bit here and there to accommodate the traffic flow and most importantly reduce crashes.”
He emphasized that while he hopes it goes as smoothly as possible, he knows there will be some issues as that is just “the nature of the beast” when dealing with traffic and something new. Avant said that motorists are used to just going, not having to stop for a light before merging onto the highway. He said they may see a light there and have no idea what to do.
“We just have to monitor it and be a work in motion, you know,” Avant said.
This is the second Flex Route that has been built in Michigan. The first one was constructed along U.S. 23 between M-14 and M-36 in Livingston and Washtenaw counties. MDOT is currently working to extend that Flex Route north all the way to I-96.
