The orange barrels on Milbocker Road and McCoy Road this fall are for next year. The Michigan Department of Transportation started prep work for the new diverging diamond interchange at I-75 and M-32 on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, and expects this phase to end around Friday, Nov. 6. Most of what crews are doing in that window is getting the roads around the interchange ready to carry M-32 traffic when the bridges come out.
The bridges are the reason for all of it. The northbound and southbound I-75 spans over M-32 were built in 1961, and MDOT describes them as in poor condition. Replacing them is a $54 million project that runs through fall 2028, with landscape planting set for 2029. The roughly two months of prep work this fall come first, and they decide how the next two construction seasons will feel for anyone who drives between the west side of town and downtown.
The Backup Route Already Has Names
MDOT has already said where traffic goes when M-32 shuts down. During bridge demolition and beam placement, which MDOT expects to close M-32 for several days at a time, the official detour runs on South Townline Road, Milbocker Road and McCoy Road, and the I-75 Business Loop. The same roads will be signed as a suggested alternate route for through traffic for the whole project.
That's why the fall work list is mostly about these roads:
- Milbocker Road is being resurfaced to Dickerson Road. The August press release gives the starting point as Plywood Road, and MDOT's project page gives it as South Townline Road.
- McCoy Road is being repaved from Dickerson Road to the I-75 Business Loop at South Otsego Avenue.
- Sidewalk ramps on both Milbocker and McCoy are being upgraded.
- M-32 at South Townline Road is getting foundations for a new traffic signal, at one end of the detour loop.
- I-75 is getting directional crossovers north and south of the interchange, and the interchange itself is getting sheet piling ahead of bridge demolition in 2027.
The fall work has its own slowdowns. MDOT's notice lists lane closures and traffic shifts on I-75 and M-32, shoulder closures, and lane closures with flaggers on Milbocker and McCoy. For now, the backup route is itself a work zone.
The City Is Paving Its Own Share
MDOT isn't the only one preparing detour pavement. At its Sept. 28, 2026 meeting, the Gaylord City Council unanimously approved a $228,583.50 bid from M&M Excavating to remill and resurface city streets that will be used as detours during the DDI project.
Neither the draft minutes nor the meeting agenda says which streets are included or when the work will happen. That contract is separate from MDOT's Milbocker and McCoy work, so the city's list will probably add streets beyond the state's named detour. Next to a $54 million state project, a contract of about $229,000 is small. Its size isn't the point. It shows the city expects drivers to spread onto city streets beyond the official signed route, and wants those streets in better shape before that happens.
When The Bridges Actually Come Out
The fall work is the easy part. UpNorthLive reported before the Sept. 8 start that the bulk of the work, and the biggest impact on drivers, begins in 2027. MDOT's North Region media representative, James Lake, described the scale this way:
"It's one of the biggest projects we've ever had in Northern Lower Michigan, and it really is intended to be transformational for this corridor."
The same story put the project at $45 million. MDOT's own release says $54 million, and that's the figure used here.
The work is split by direction and by side of town:
- 2027: Replace the northbound I-75 bridge and pavement, and rebuild M-32 east of West Street.
- 2028: Replace the southbound I-75 bridge and pavement, and rebuild M-32 through the interchange and to the west.
- 2029: Landscape planting.
In practice, the east side of M-32, toward downtown, takes the disruption first, and the west side waits until 2028. MDOT plans to keep at least one lane open each way on M-32 most of the time. The exceptions are bridge demolition, bridge beam installation and municipal utility work. That utility work is planned: the project includes replacing the City of Gaylord's water main and sanitary sewer lines within the project limits. So the closures aren't only about the bridges. Some will come from pipes under M-32.
The Pieces Built For Walking
Much of the finished project is meant for people on foot or on a bike, and it starts this fall. Crews are already building sidewalk on both sides of M-32 from South Townline Road to Meecher Road and running underground electrical from Murner Road to Meecher Road.
MDOT's project page lists what comes with the finished interchange:
- 5-foot sidewalks on both sides of M-32 from South Townline Road to Little League Drive and Wilkinson Road, wherever sidewalk is missing now or gets removed during construction.
- A 10-foot-wide path from the existing path on Dickerson Road, through the DDI, to the North Central State Trail, which is also 10 feet wide.
- A new MDOT carpool lot on Dickerson Road.
- New lighting for drivers and pedestrians, plus benches, decorative lighting and landscaping.
The Dickerson path is the piece that changes how people can get around. Right now, crossing I-75 at M-32 on foot means using an interchange built in 1961. The new design gives the North Central State Trail a trail-width link through the interchange to the Dickerson Road side.
Downtown M-32 Is Next On The List
The same council meeting that approved the detour paving also looked past the interchange. Council passed a resolution supporting a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle improvement study of M-32 in downtown Gaylord. MDOT's Transportation Alternatives Program will pay 100% of the cost.
The study grew out of the Walkability Action Institute, a state health department pilot. Gaylord is one of seven communities in it. The local team did a walking audit of downtown M-32 in 2025 with Toole Design, MDOT and community members. The study will look at five years of crash data, traffic volumes, turning movements, pedestrian and bike counts, signal timing, possible lane changes, parking and crosswalk locations. The resolution says the study doesn't commit the city or MDOT to any specific outcome or construction.
Downtown also has a second track. On Aug. 17, 2026, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation selected Gaylord for the Select Level of Michigan Main Street, which comes with five years of technical help for downtown revitalization. The Downtown Development Authority is now writing a Main Street Transformation Strategy and has a public survey open through Oct. 15. Executive Director Lisa Marie Tobin has asked residents, business owners, local groups and visitors to respond, according to 9&10 News. With the interchange rebuild, the downtown M-32 study and the Main Street strategy all moving at once, the next few years of M-32 planning are being set now.
Driving It This Fall, And After 2028
MDOT points drivers to Mi Drive for current lane closures. We didn't find any progress report published after the Sept. 8 start, so the map is the best way to see what's closed on a given morning.
West Main is also getting a new traffic draw this fall. Chick-fil-A announced its first Gaylord location at 1354 W. Main St., run by local Owner-Operator Tyler Lowe, with opening set for Oct. 1, 2026.
The finished interchange will take some getting used to. Drivers follow signs, signals and pavement markings to cross to the left side of the road after the first set of signals. Through traffic then crosses back to the right at a second set of signals. Left turns onto I-75 don't stop at all. MDOT's project page has videos showing how drivers and pedestrians will move through it. The full schedule is in the August 31 release, and the council's detour paving vote is in the Sept. 28 draft minutes.
Two years of construction around M-32 also affect the property questions people ask, from which side of town is easier to reach in 2027 to how a showing works when part of the route is a detour. If you're thinking about the Gaylord area while this project is underway, Laura Corpe and the Laura & Kayla Team can give you a current read on any address near the corridor. Find Your Escape.
