LANSING — Bridge and utility projects will complicate things for drivers who use two busy north Lansing roads beginning Monday, Aug. 4.
All traffic on the Cesar Chavez Avenue bridge over the Grand River will be shifted to one side while crews do maintenance, beginning about 7 a.m. Aug. 4 and continuing until about Oct. 1, officials said in a news release.
Traffic will be maintained in both directions.
Meanwhile, a couple of projects along Saginaw Street will prompt closures starting at 9 a.m. Aug. 4 and continuing into late November, officials said.
Saginaw Street, which carries only eastbound traffic, will be reduced to one lane between Chestnut Street and Grand Avenue for a sewer separation project, while a Lansing Board of Water & Light project will restrict traffic to two lanes on Saginaw between Grand and Larch streets, and at the Cedar/Saginaw intersection, officials said.
The two projects are coordinated, but involve separate contractors, the city said.
The intersections along Saginaw from Walnut Street to Grand Avenue will have intermittent closures, officials said. Local traffic will be maintained, but drivers should expect delays, they said.
The project will be completed in phases, beginning with the closure of the northern-most three lanes of Saginaw, followed by the southern-most three lanes.
Drivers are advised to find an alternate route around the work area, said Andy Kilpatrick, the city’s public service director. The city-suggested detour uses Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Interstate 496. A map and other information is available on the department’s website.
The severity of traffic backups in that area will depend on how many drivers choose to avoid it, he said.
There’s no way to do the sewer separation project without seriously impacting traffic, he said. Next year’s work will require a full closure of Oakland Avenue, he noted.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Old Town bridge work, Saginaw St. sewer project to impact drivers. What you need to know
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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