Great News! North and Southbound 131 Getting A Fix to Ease Congestion

How many time have you been on 131 Northbound or Southbound, trying to get in or  out of the city during morning or evening rush hour, and frustrated finding yourself crawling at a whopping 5mph? Your entire life, right?

It's doesn't happen all day but at morning and evening rush hour, oh boy, bring something to eat because you will be there a bit.

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Well, good news commuters, help is on the way!

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Northbound and Southbound 131 will be getting a fix. MDOT will be adding a Flex Route from I-96 to Post Road.

Google Street View

Excuse me...a Flex Route? What in the world is that?

MDOT says: "a flex route uses a lane control system that includes signs, vehicle detectors and electronic message boards to let drivers know when the flex route shoulder, or flex lane, is available for use during peak travel periods."

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Here is what MDOT says they will be doing beginning next spring, 2027.

• Shoulder widening and improvements on northbound and southbound US-131.
• Bridge rehabilitation and widening.
• Emergency pull-off sites on US-131.
• Incident management.

Is this really needed? YES, for sure, and the benefits are big.

MDOT says it will:

• Increase safety
• Reduce crashes
• Improve traffic flow
• Extend service life of the bridges

Netting it down, they will add an extra lane, left side of the expressway, that you will be able to use during peak traffic times, and also in case of an accident in the regular lanes.

Google Street View

During other times of the day the lane will be closed because it isn't needed, but to have a third lane during the rush hours is huge and should smooth things out in a big way.