Airport Road in Jackson to Receive Needed Work

By John Face

City Watch has received several calls regarding Airport Road and I-94 in Jackson County. We reached out to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), and we received the following statement:

The Airport Road bridge over westbound I-94 was hit by a high load several weeks ago.  This incident damaged seven bridge beams, which now need to be replaced.  MDOT bridge crews inspected the bridge after the hit to determine the severity and verified the bridge was safe.

The project to replace the bridge beams is scheduled for an August 1, 2025, bid opening to identify the contractor to complete the work.  If a bid is accepted, we are planning to start construction after Labor Day and plan to be completed near early December 2025. 

During construction, northbound Airport Road traffic over I-94 will be detoured for about 45 days.  The detour will utilize the eastbound Airport Road entrance ramp easterly to the West Avenue exit and then back on westbound I-94 to the Airport Road exit ramp.  We won’t know the exact dates of the full closure until we have a contractor on board. The ramps will remain open during the project and Airport Road south of I-94 and north of I-94 will remain open.

For 2 separate nights during the project (approximately 9pm to 6am) we will need a full closure of westbound (WB) I-94 to remove the damaged bridge beams and install the new beams, which will require WB I-94 traffic to use the WB Airport Rd. ramps to go around the bridge and back on the freeway.

Thanks.

Kelby Wallace, PE

MDOT Jackson TSC