US-31 and Three Mile Road project set to finish early in East Bay Township

Drivers using US-31 and Three Mile Road were set to get relief sooner than expected, with the $1.9 million East Bay Township intersection project on track to wrap as early as Thursday, June 5, several weeks ahead of its July 2 deadline. That early finish meant less time navigating lane shifts, backups and construction zones on one of Grand Traverse County’s busiest corridors just as summer traffic was building.

The project began April 10 and was designed to do more than freshen pavement. Michigan Department of Transportation’s work included sidewalk and traffic signal improvements, a second westbound left-turn lane and a realignment of the Traverse City State Park Beach driveway with the northbound approach of the intersection. MDOT and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said the state park’s day-use beach entrance was being moved east to line up with the US-31 and Three Mile Road signal.

That change mattered for more than park traffic. The intersection serves a steady stream of drivers headed toward Traverse City, Cherry Capital Airport and Grand Traverse Mall, and it also handles beach traffic, commuters and visitors moving through the East Bay Township waterfront area. During construction, those overlapping traffic patterns added strain to a corridor already known for seasonal congestion.

MDOT traffic and safety engineer Jessica Carpenter said the new turn lane was added because the old setup could not handle the traffic volume. “What our project is doing is adding a second left turn lane, because right now that single left turn lane backs way up,” Carpenter said. The added lane and updated signal work were intended to improve both flow and safety at a point where backups had become routine.

For nearby businesses and regular commuters, the early completion shortened the disruption window by weeks and reduced the chance of continued delays into the heart of the summer travel season. It also limited the time drivers had to deal with detours and narrowed lanes around a route that links neighborhoods, the state park, the airport and major retail traffic.

The early finish gave East Bay Township and the Traverse City area a rare transportation win: one of the region’s most heavily used intersections got its upgrades done ahead of schedule, easing pressure on daily travel before the busiest months of the year fully arrived.