Turnpike Stays 2 Lanes Each Way at the Maumee River All Winter — and I-75’s Rebuild Just Hit the Halfway Mark
Two of the Toledo area’s biggest highway projects have both reached their halfway points — but Toledo drivers will face very different work zones this winter, according to The Blade’s Nov. 8 “Road Warrior” column by David Patch.
On Interstate 75 south of Monroe, three lanes of traffic in both directions will be restored for the cold-weather hiatus between South Otter Creek and Dunbar roads. On the Ohio Turnpike, by contrast, traffic will remain two lanes each way across the Maumee River until late next year.
As of Friday, both projects were set up with a left-lane closing, with traffic operating on the proper sides of the roadway, the column reported.
Turnpike: westbound shift sets up eastbound deck demolition
Charles Cyrill, the Turnpike’s spokesman, said barrier wall will be moved over to the westbound side early this week so that on Wednesday night, westbound traffic can be shifted to the eastbound left lane and shoulder.
“This will allow the start of the demolition of the old eastbound bridge deck,” Mr. Cyrill said.
Demolition is a task amenable to cold weather, and getting it done over the winter should allow deck replacement to get going first thing in the spring, according to the column. The Turnpike’s project schedule calls for all lanes to reopen about a year from now once that work is done.
I-75: three lanes restored for winter; southbound rebuild starts in spring
All closed northbound ramps have reopened in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s I-75 work zone. Reconstruction of the southbound lanes will start in the spring, with corresponding ramp detours, the column reported.
Before the left lanes reopen for the winter, workers will make “a few pavement repairs on the southbound lanes to maintain winter operations” and do some work in the median, said Aaron Jenkins, an MDOT spokesman in Jackson, Mich.
Elsewhere on the Turnpike, lane closings persist during repaving on either side of the I-280 interchange in Wood County, and left-lane closings are possible on I-75 between the Michigan border and the Maumee River for drain cleaning through mid-November, according to the column’s roundup.
Photo: The Interstate 75, Interstate 80 and Interstate 90 (Ohio Turnpike) interchange in Rossford, Ohio. Photo by Sixflashphoto via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources: The Blade — “Road Warrior: Turnpike to remain 2 lanes each way at Maumee River through winter” (Nov. 8, 2026); NewsLocker listing
