If you’ve recently passed by the newly built I-94 bridge in Stevensville, you might have noticed its impressive artwork.
According to MDOT spokesperson Nick Schirripa, the Michigan Department of Transportation collaborates with local communities on projects like this.
“We’ve been doing it for, I’m going to say, a better part of a decade or a little bit longer,” Schirripa says. “When we have big rebuilding projects, adding an aesthetic feature to a bridge or interchange certainly is something we can do, but we want to do it in partnership with the community it’s in because it gives them some voice and some way to help characterize and capture the character of their community.”
MDOT partnered with Lincoln Township to enhance the aesthetic design of the interchange. Schirripa explained that MDOT offers various ideas, and the township provides feedback to help bring that vision to life.
“We have several options we can offer and then the community leaders kind of choose which ones make sense, whether it’s doing some kind of poll in the community or just the leadership saying these are the two or three you like, which one is cheapest, which one can we get fastest, whatever their criteria are,” Schirripa says.
This bridge initiative is part of MDOT’s I-94 reconstruction project. The first phase was completed last year, and the second phase is set to commence later this spring.
