Independence Day falling on a Thursday means a fair degree of variability for holiday travel schedules, so AAA in its travel forecast looked at the entire week including both weekends.
What it found in its survey results was a record number of Americans planning to travel more than 50 miles from home between the weekend just ended and the one after the Fourth.
The 71 million travelers is a 5 percent increase over last year, when the holiday fell on Tuesday, and 8 percent more than 2019, the pre-pandemic high, when July 4 also fell on a Thursday.
Toledo holiday travelers who haven’t already hit the road should be particularly mindful of the work zones on I-475/U.S. 23 in Toledo’s western suburbs and on I-75 in Monroe County.
The former got very backed up last year on June 30, getaway day for many taking a four-day weekend as well as those heading out for the whole week. It may not be as bad Wednesday of this week, but it still might be worth avoiding if you can use local roads to enter downstream of the work zone.
And don’t forget that the ramps linking the southbound side with westbound I-475/U.S. 23 will remain closed throughout the weekend. The detours aren’t especially grim, but they will add at least five minutes or so to your drive time — perhaps longer when there’s more traffic out there.
The latter, meanwhile, has been prone to peak-hour backups all construction season. Keep tabs on your traffic app or those drive-time messages the Michigan Department of Transportation posts on its programmable signs and be prepared to detour to Dixie Highway (M-125) if it gets backed up — but again, you may have lots of company if that happens.
Both work zones jam up quickly if there’s so much as a flat tire, as breakdown lanes are not always available.
****
Several railroad crossings remain closed along the Norfolk Southern corridor in western Lucas County, and one of them was unplanned for.
The crossing on State Rt. 295 between Soul and Shaffer roads closed Thursday for track work, which messed up the detour route for Swanton’s waterline project that has U.S. 20A and State Rts. 2 and 64 closed. Then Garden Road, which was one of the alternatives for Route 295, was closed Friday after the railroad discovered a track problem in the crossing there that apparently couldn’t wait until later.
The Lucas County Engineer’s Office said it was told Garden will be closed until Thursday and announced a detour using Airport Highway, and Eber, Old State Line, and Whitehouse-Spencer roads.
The Ohio Department of Transportation did not announce a detour for Route 295, but other than using the Eber route, Wilkins Road is the only real alternative.
ODOT also said that while some local traffic will be restored around the water project in Swanton, the detour for through and commercial traffic will remain to U.S. 20 between State Rts. 295 and 109.
****
• I-75: Lane closings possible between South Avenue and Buck Road for finish work following the recent reconstruction there, and between Buck and I-475 in Perrysburg for bridge work at Lime City Road and nighttime resurfacing. The resurfacing and Lime City projects may restrict I-75 traffic to one lane at times. Lime City is closed.
• I-75: Left lane may be closed near Hancock County Road 99 north of Findlay for a bridge project.
• I-75 (Mich.): Lane closings, Exit 5 (Erie) to north of Exit 9 (LaSalle), for roadway reconstruction. Southbound traffic is crossed over to the northbound side. The southbound exit at Exit 9 is closed.
• Ohio Turnpike: Exit 34 (State Rt. 108/Wauseon) is closed for reconstruction; use Exit 25 (State Rt. 66) or 39 (State Rt. 109) instead.
• I-280: Traffic shifts to the right between State Rts. 2 and 51 for median reconstruction. Two lanes remain open southbound but northbound traffic is reduced to one lane through the zone until mid-August.
• I-475/U.S. 23: No shoulders and traffic is shifted between U.S. 24 (Exit 4) and Angola Road for reconstruction and widening. Both ramps connecting southbound I-475/U.S. 23 with westbound U.S. 24 are closed until mid-August. Detour through other interchange ramps to get from southbound I-475 to westbound U.S. 24. Use Ford Street and Dussel Drive to reach southbound I-475 from westbound U.S. 24. Monclova Road may be closed at I-475 daily between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. for overhead bridge work.
• State Rt. 2: Lane closings west of State Rt. 163 in Ottawa County for slope repair.
• U.S. 20A/State Rt. 2: Closed at Main Street (westerly junction of State Rt. 64) in Swanton for sewer construction until mid-September. Detour via U.S. 20 between State Rts. 295 and 109. Route 64 detours via Routes 20A/2, 295, and 20, except that a longer detour is involved until a railroad crossing on Route 295 reopens..
• U.S. 23: Lane closings through Milan, Mich., for repair work until July 3.
• U.S. 24 (Fearing): Lanes closed between Airport Highway and Hill for overpass replacement. Consider Byrne Road as an alternative route between Airport and Hill. Lane closings between Hill and Brown Avenue for utility work through this week.
• State Rt. 25 (Anthony Wayne Trail): Inbound right lane closed between Copland and Sherwood for multi-use path construction. The closing will be extended to Glendale as work progresses.
• State Rt. 25/U.S. 24 (Anthony Wayne Trail): Lanes closed between Monclova Road and Detroit Avenue for rehabilitation and multi-use path construction along the roadway.
• Broadway Street: All lanes except one inbound lane are closed to through traffic between Newbury Street and Western Avenue for street reconstruction. Western (State Rt. 2) remains closed at Broadway and several other cross streets also are closed nearby.
• Glendale Avenue: Culvert work requires lane closings between Fallbrook Road and Cherrylawn Drive until mid-October.
• U.S. 23/30: Left lane closed in both directions at the State Rts. 53/67 interchange on Upper Sandusky’s north side for pavement replacement.
• U.S. 6: Flag zones near Terra State Community College west of Fremont for microsurfacing.
• State Rt. 795: Lanes closed between I-75 and State Rt. 51 for repaving, which mostly occurs at night (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.). The westbound ramps at East Broadway will close Sunday for seven days.
• Hill Avenue/Centennial Road: Intersection closed for roundabout construction until late July. Use Angola as an alternate for Hill and King as an alternate for Centennial.
Most Popular
Comments / 0