M-21 lane closure near Owosso listed only through today; Wren Road still shut

The left lane of M-21 between Wren Road and Escott Road is posted as closed only through today, according to the closure listing on MDOT's Mi Drive traffic map. Nothing in the state's posting says what happens tomorrow, and nothing in it addresses the side road that has been shut alongside it.

That side road is Wren Road. The Shiawassee County Road Commission has been closing it between M-21 and Serr Road, one workday at a time, because of the shoulder work on M-21 between Escott and Wren. The commission's most recent posting covered Tuesday, Sept. 8, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A companion posting the same day listed a single-lane closure on westbound M-21 between Escott and Wren from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., attributed to "replacing shoulder tile." Both notices were published by Julie McCloskey for the road commission.

This is the third week the same stretch has been fenced off in daily increments. The Current reported on Sept. 5 that the commission was reposting the Escott-to-Wren closures day by day with no posted finish date, cost or contractor, and reported again on Sept. 6 that Wren Road had been closed a second week under the same arrangement, with Copas and Byron roads added to the closure list.

For drivers, the practical situation has not changed in two weeks: a lane gone on one of the county's main east-west routes, and a north-south road off it closed entirely during working hours, with no detour published in either the state or county notices.

The two agencies are also describing the same work differently. MDOT's map lists a left-lane closure with an end date of Sept. 10. The road commission's own notice calls it a single-lane closure on westbound M-21 and carries no end date at all — only a start and stop time for that one day. Neither posting names the contractor, states what the shoulder tile job costs, or says whether the bill falls to the state trunkline budget or to the county.

The Current has asked the road commission and MDOT for a firm reopening date for Wren Road, the total cost of the shoulder tile replacement and which agency is paying. Neither had answered as of publication. The road commission's office is at 701 W. Corunna Ave. in Corunna and its phone number is 989-743-2228; the commission's website asks that time-sensitive concerns be phoned in rather than emailed.

What happens next: If the work is finished, the M-21 left lane should be back in service after today under MDOT's own posting, and Wren Road should stay open. If it is not, expect another one-day closure notice on the road commission's site tomorrow morning, as has happened every workday for two weeks. We will report a firm end date, a cost figure and the paying agency as soon as either agency provides them.