Noah Johnson Daily Press Workers monitor traffic on Monday at the intersection of Ludington Street and Lincoln Road. Nearly 2 miles of M-35, from Lakeshore Drive to US-2, are being resurfaced, with a completion date scheduled for July 17.

ESCANABA – Residents likely noticed lane closures, slow-downs and various orange cones lately as the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is currently working on a major state highway.

MDOT is currently working on roughly 1.8 miles of road of M-35 from Lakeshore Drive to US-2 (Lincoln Road) in Escanaba, a near $1 million project.

The project started at the beginning of May and is scheduled for completion by July 17.

It includes asphalt cold milling and resurfacing, drainage structure repairs and cleaning, concrete curb repair, and pavement markings.

“The main part of the work is getting started this week; asphalt cold milling, where they take off the top surface of the existing asphalt, (that) got started last night (Sunday), and that’s going to continue throughout the week,” said MDOT Superior Region Media Representative Daniel Weingarten.

He said paving is expected to begin later this week, depending on the weather.

“The paving is weather dependent. They can’t do it if it’s raining, or at least raining heavily,” Weingarten said.

The project is part of 37 total projects scheduled for 2025 in the Upper Peninsula.

The projects vary from road rebuilding and restructuring to bridgework, carpool lots, traffic signals, and railroad crossing work.

Weingarten recommends visiting Michigan.gov/drive to look at the interactive MiDrive map.

There, motorists can see which projects are active, what lanes are closed, and possible detours.

“Across Michigan, we are moving dirt and fixing the damn roads to grow our economy, helping Michiganders go to work, drop their kids off at school and run errands safely,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a May press release. “By the end of this construction season, we will have fixed, repaired, or replaced nearly 24,500 lane miles of roads and 1,900 bridges, supporting thousands of good-paying, local jobs without raising taxes by a dime. This year, let’s build on our momentum to pass a bipartisan local road funding plan so we can keep fixing our damn roads and creating good-paying, local jobs.”