NEWBERRY – The southbound lanes of I-75 in Chippewa and Mackinac counties reopened Wednesday, bringing the summer’s I-75 detour to an end. Only temporary single-lane closures will be required on the southbound lanes during the coming weeks as the project is wrapped up.

“Once again, we want to thank motorists for being patient as we complete our I-75 projects this fall,” said Pete Paramski, manager of MDOT’s Newberry Transportation Service Center (TSC). “We’re pleased to have both northbound and southbound lanes reopened.”

Two major projects were constructed within the closed stretch of I-75 this summer: culvert replacement on tributaries of the Pine River and bridge repairs over the Pine River. While MDOT engineers had planned to have both projects wrapped up by the end of August, crews discovered important structural steel repair work needed on the I-75 Pine River bridges.

MDOT decided to add this work to the existing plans since the detour that would be required for the steel repair work was already in place. While the additional work has extended this year’s detour into early fall, doing it now saved time overall by not requiring crews to come back later to detour this same stretch of I-75 again.