MDOT: I-69 eastbound left lane closed to Nov. 17, Goodall to M-13

Anyone heading east on I-69 has one fewer lane to work with for the rest of the fall. MDOT's Mi Drive map lists the eastbound left lane closed between Goodall Road and M-13, with an end date of Nov. 17, 2026 — roughly 10 weeks from today.

That is the whole of what the state has posted. The Mi Drive listing gives the direction, the two end points and the date. It does not say what the work is, what it costs, which contractor is doing it, whether the lane is taken around the clock or only during work hours, or whether the westbound side is next. The page MDOT serves for that listing returned only the map's own navigation and disclaimer text — no project description at all.

The practical read for drivers is narrow but real: this is a lane restriction, not a closure. Eastbound I-69 stays open, on fewer lanes, through the work zone. MDOT has not posted an expected delay or a detour, so there is no official number to plan around — only the fact that the squeeze is in place into the middle of November.

I-69 is the freeway this county leans on to get east to Flint and west to Lansing, which makes a 10-week restriction a different kind of story than a week of ditching on a gravel road. It is also the second stretch of state trunkline in as many weeks where the posted information has been thinner than the disruption.

The Current reported Sept. 1 and again Sept. 2 that MDOT's Mi Drive listing and the Shiawassee County Road Commission's advisories never agreed on how long the eastbound M-21 left lane between Escott and Wren roads would be closed for shoulder tile work. MDOT's map said the closure ended Aug. 31; the road commission put crews on the highway Sept. 1. Neither agency has explained the mismatch, said who was doing the work, or said what it cost. Those questions are still open on this desk.

The I-69 listing arrives with the same gaps built in from the start, and with a duration ten times longer.

We have asked none of this of MDOT yet in print, so here is what we are chasing plainly: the project behind the closure, its cost and funding source, the contractor, the exact limits in mile markers, whether Perry, Bancroft, Durand or Lennon-area interchanges are affected, and whether westbound I-69 gets the same treatment when this phase ends.

What happens next

MDOT's posted end date is Nov. 17. Mi Drive listings change — the M-21 job proved that — so the date on the map today is not a promise. The Current will ask MDOT's Bay Region office for the project details and post what the department says, including any change to the end date or a westbound phase.