If you plan to be on the road between South Haven and Holland late Sunday night and early Monday morning, here’s an important heads up for you that the entirety of I-196 will be shut down for barrier wall repairs for a couple of hours, forcing a detour on M-40 and M-89 to skirt the project.
It’s only a brief shutdown, currently slated to run from 1am until 3am on Monday morning, June 28th, but all I-196 traffic will be forced off of the interstate and onto state highways for the duration.
The Michigan Department of Transportation says that I-196 will close between M-40 and M-89 for barrier wall repair. Southbound I-196 traffic will exit at M-40 near Holland, and northbound I-196 traffic will exit at M-89 near Ganges/Fennville.
Southbound I-196 traffic is already shifted to the northbound side of the roadway near 140th Avenue, just north of Blue Star Highway Exit 41. Both directions of traffic will be separated by barrier wall. The ramps at the southbound I-196/Blue Star Highway (Exit 41) interchange will also be closed.
Meanwhile, the Saugatuck rest area remains closed through May 2022, as a result on ongoing work in that region that is currently slated to run through mid-November.
MDOT is rebuilding and improving approximately 12 miles of southbound I-196 from M-40 in Holland to 130th Avenue in the Saugatuck/Douglas areas. The project includes rebuilding and resurfacing, culvert replacements, bridge improvements, and replacing the Saugatuck Rest Area with a new facility. The majority of the work is funded by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan program.
Southbound I-196 has been closed since the project began, with both directions of traffic sharing the northbound side of the roadway. The southbound I-196 on and off ramps at Blue Star Highway (Exit 41) remain closed and traffic is detoured south to Exit 36 (also Blue Star Highway). In early July, northbound US-31 traffic will be detoured onto I-196 and M-40.
