The Michigan Department of Transportation is offering everyone a unique chance to walk around in the middle of a highway while there are no vehicles on it. MDOT spokesperson Nick Schirripa tells us there will be a run, walk, and bike event on US-31 next Monday. It’s to celebrate the near-completion of that highway’s connection to I-94. The run, walk, and bike event will start on US-31 near the Britain Avenue overpass.
“There’s a loop, about 1.25 miles from the new Britain Avenue bridge over that section of US-31 north to the I-94 interchange,” Schirripa said. “We’re going to give folks a chance to run, bike, or walk that stretch.”
Schirripa says they’re about two months away from having the connection project finished. Since there’s no traffic on US-31 north of Napier Avenue, why not check the new highway out?
“It’s just kind of a fun way to introduce it to the public, introduce it to the community, before we open it to traffic.”
People are invited to come out to the Napier Avenue onramp to northbound US-31 starting at 2:30 p.m. Monday. They’ll be guided to a place to park, and the walking, running, biking event starts at 3. Only non-motorized bikes are allowed. The current $121.5 million project started in 2020 and has involved building about two miles of new highway connecting US-31 to I-94, along with a lot of support work.
