Construction of 'world's most sophisticated roadway' project on I-94 nearly complete

Dearborn — The path to make the “world’s most sophisticated roadway” in Michigan continues as a 3-mile stretch of Interstate-94 in Wayne County approaches the testing phase, said officials behind the project.

Construction is almost complete for the $10 million pilot project between Haggerty and Rawsonville roads in Wayne County to build what is the first connected and automated vehicle travel lane on Interstate 94, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation, which held an open house in Dearborn to give the public updates on the project Tuesday.

The state is partnering with Cavnue, a Washington, D.C.-based technology firm that develops and integrates technologies for roadways. Cavnue is paying for the pilot project.

Since last summer, the stretch of the left lane of westbound I-94 from Haggerty to Rawsonville roads has had digital infrastructure installed, including underground electrical conduits and pole mounted sensors and equipment, to support CAV, or connected and automated vehicles. CAV utilizes on-board sensors, software and communications equipment to improve safety and reduce driver error. The equipment is becoming more standard on newer vehicles. This is believed to be the first time the technology will be installed in a road in the United States, officials said Tuesday.

“The ultimate goal is making the road safer and smarter,” said Casey Hudson, a spokesperson for Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, the Brooklyn-based parent company of Cavnue. Equipping the road with the technology means such things as accidents, traffic jams and other incidents can be shared to a much larger group of vehicles, enabling them to avoid the scene as well as better informing emergency response vehicles, Hudson said.

Cavnue didn't give an estimated cost of the project on Tuesday; last year the initial estimate was $10 million.

“The construction will be fully done within the next few weeks,” Hudson said. “We just need the weather to improve a little bit for the surfacing piece’’ of the construction phase.

At that point, MDOT and Cavnue will begin a testing phase with specially equipped vehicles. The testing phase will allow the project organizers to gather and evaluate data, among other things. Some of the testing will mean closing the lane during off peak hours, Hudson said. The testing phase may last up to two years, MDOT officials said.

Ultimately, the project envisions repurposing an existing travel lane into a technology-enabled express lane along each direction of I-94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The lane will accommodate a mix of traditional personal vehicles, CAVs, transit and shared mobility services.

The pilot is the first-of-its-kind in the United States, said Michelle Mueller, senior project manger for connected and automated vehicles at MDOT.

MDOT hopes it will encourage similar technology integrations across the state. After the pilot program, there are six remaining phases stretching from Ann Arbor to Detroit.

On Tuesday, a project open house was held at Dearborn’s Henry Ford Centennial Library. Gregory Bailey, a Romulus resident, visited the open house “out of curiosity,” he said.

“They have been talking about a transit system between Detroit and Ann Arbor for a long time,” Bailey said. “I know this is a different project, but it seems worthwhile because it does seem like it is addressing the congestion and preparing for the future."

laguilar@detroitnews.com