LANSING — Another phase of the years-long makeover of U.S. 127 is scheduled to get underway March 11 as crews get to the task of rebuilding 3.7 miles of the freeway between Interstates 96 and 496.

The project in its entirety is expected to snarl traffic on US 127 for four more years, through the 2027 construction season, if work finishes on time.

This particular phase will stretch over two years and include realigning and widening the freeway, reconfiguring interchanges and improving 18 bridges to ease congestion and improve safety along the heavily traveled thoroughfare, the Michigan Department of Transportation said

An open house on the project is set for 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 13) at the Foster Community Center, 200 N. Foster Avenue in Lansing. Presentations are scheduled for 4:45 p.m. and 6 p.m., with question-and-answer sessions following, MDOT said.

What’s the scope of the project?

MDOT finished a $62 million project on U.S. 127 between M-36 in Mason and the Ingham County/Jackson County line last year. In preparation for this year’s work, crews began building crossover lanes for a $205 million rebuild of the freeway between I-96 and I-496 last fall.

This current phase of the project technically began last year with an $8 million bridge replacement project at the U.S. 127/Interstate 496 interchange. The ramps from southbound U.S. 127 to westbound I-496 and from eastbound I-496 to northbound U.S. 127 were closed for much of the year while the bridges were being rebuilt.

Plans call for permanent third lanes to be added between I-96 and I-496, and ramps at the Dunckel and Trowbridge interchanges will be reconfigured to improve traffic flow and cut down on the number of crashes, an MDOT representative said in a Jan. 16 webinar.

Eighteen bridges will get improvements. There also will be some lighting upgrades, MDOT said.

This year’s work will be on the northbound side of U.S. 127, with all traffic shifted to three lanes on the southbound side. MDOT plans to use a moveable “zipper barrier” to create two northbound lanes and one southbound lane in the morning, changing over to two southbound lanes and one northbound lane in the afternoon.

Work will shift to the southbound side in 2025, when MDOT plans to maintain two lanes in each direction on the newly rebuilt northbound side.

In 2026 and 2027, MDOT will turn its attention north to the stretch of U.S. 127 between I-496 and Interstate 69. Planning for that phase of the project is still underway, MDOT said.

What’s scheduled to happen this year?

The northbound lanes of U.S. 127 will be closed from about March 11 through November, MDOT said.

MDOT said it plans to accellerate work on the stretch between I-96 and Dunckel early this year to get it open by mid-June.

For all of 2024, there will be no access to Trowbridge Road for northbound drivers. Until mid-June, drivers headed north will have no access to Dunckel Road, according to project information posted online.

“We understand how inconventient lane closures can be especially during peak travel hours,” MDOT said in Feb. 1 bulletin about the project. “A zipper machine will be used to provide more access to lanes during these travel times and will be moved twice daily to accommodate a smooth traffic flow with as minimal delays as possible.”

Even so, the agency is urging drivers to find alternate routes around the construction zone, if possible.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Road project will snarl US 127 traffic between Lansing, I-96 for 2 years