Stabenow, Kildee attend new Saginaw I-675 ramp groundbreaking

By Justin L. Engel

From © The Saginaw News

SAGINAW — An effort a decade in the making moved forward another step this morning.

U.S. lawmakers, business leaders and roads officials gathered near the site where officials later this year plan to open new Interstate 675 exit and entrance ramps aimed at bringing Saginaw visitors closer to the downtown area.

As snow dropped upon the early stages of the $14.5 million construction site, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee tossed the first shovel-full of ground after praising the project’s arrival.

“I’ve had I-675 on my mind since I came to the Senate in 2001,” said Stabenow, a Lansing Democrat. “It’s a very, very critical community builder. This is not just about building a new ramp; it’s about our ability to build an infrastructure and create a new downtown.”

Stabenow and other officials at the 10 a.m. ceremony, located beneath one of the I-675 ramps that crews will demolish as part of the initiative, described how city leaders about 10 years ago approached state and federal officials about creating a new freeway ramp to provide motorists better access to downtown businesses such as The Dow Event Center and the nearby medical corridor surrounding St. Mary’s of Michigan hospital.

“This was a high priority,” Kildee, a Flint Democrat, said of the project. “Devoted leadership has brought us here today.”

MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle told the ceremony’s crowd of about 30 people that he remembers the early conversations about building the new ramp a decade ago.

“It’s great to be here today to see we finally made it,” Steudle said.

The transportation director said the existing interstate ramps, located a few blocks East of where crews will build the new exits and entrances, no longer fit the commercial needs of Saginaw.

“This configuration was set up 30 years ago,” Steudle said. “It doesn’t work now.”

The I-675 project includes substantial repair, bridge replacement and other work on the freeway between the Saginaw River and the south Interstate 75 exit.

Crews this morning closed down the freeway between I-75 and Warren Avenue in northbound lanes and Warren Avenue to Veterans Memorial Parkway in the southbound lanes.

Officials expect crews to finish by November.

It’s a familiar drill to frequent downtown motorists, who have seen detours and closures on I-675 the past two years because of road work on the freeway.

Building an interchange isn’t the only task at hand this time.

Officials say local road improvements include work on Veterans Memorial Parkway; Fitzhugh, Fifth and Sixth streets; and Wadsworth and Warren avenues.

The project’s funding came from a number of sources. The federal government will spend $11.3 million, MDOT will contribute $2.4 million and Saginaw will add $815,000.