The road closes Saturday. The two-year rebuild begins in earnest.

84th Street east of M-37 closes on June 6 and will remain shut for two months. That closure marks the start of the most intensive phase of a multi-year project to rebuild and widen three miles of M-37 (Broadmoor Avenue) in Caledonia.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) began the project on March 1, 2026, with tree clearing and utility relocation. Now the heavy construction starts.

"We're investing a lot to try to maintain the northbound and southbound M-37 traffic throughout construction by building it part width," said Thomas Sabin, projects and contract manager at the MDOT Grand Rapids Transportation Service Center.

What the project will deliver

MDOT is transforming the stretch of M-37 from south of 92nd Street to north of 76th Street into a four-lane boulevard. The finished road will include:

• Michigan Left turn lanes
• New traffic signals
• Pedestrian paths
• A new signal at 84th Street and Cherry Valley Avenue
• Grade improvements on the east side to reduce a hill and improve sight distance

The project is a partnership between MDOT, the Village of Caledonia, Caledonia Township, and the Kent County Road Commission.

What drivers need to know right now

The construction follows a two-year schedule. Here is how it breaks down:

1. Year one (2026): Northbound M-37 will be built first. Work runs from 92nd Street north to just past the Emmons Lake Drain, ending the construction season somewhere just short of 76th Street.
2. Year two (2027): MDOT will move the entire southbound roadway from 76th Street south to 92nd Street, completing the boulevard concept.

The new 84th Street connection will tie into the northbound M-37 by mid-August.

"We will be maintaining one lane in each direction at all times," said Addison Bailey, assistant construction engineer with the Grand Rapids Transportation Service Center.

Residents want answers

About 40 people showed up at a public open house on May 6 at the Caledonia Township Hall. The crowd wanted to know how traffic would be rerouted and how local businesses and residents would maintain access.

"Some of the concerns are the detours and putting additional traffic on side roads," Bailey said. "We explained the additional traffic should be the same amount of traffic because those specific detours are just for people wanting to go through that intersection."

MDOT officials said construction will be timed to keep traffic moving as soon as Caledonia Public School lets out on Friday, June 5. The 84th Street closure begins the following Saturday.

Why this matters

M-37 is a primary corridor connecting Grand Rapids to communities south along the highway. The roadway carries thousands of vehicles daily through Caledonia, passing the Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Davenport University to the north.

Art Green, manager of the MDOT Grand Rapids Transportation Service Center, said the project is rare in scope.

"We don't often get to build new alignment on new roadways," Green said. "This is not necessarily a completely new roadway, but we are building a brand new boulevard section."

Green noted the project represents roughly five years of planning that began around 2021, including preliminary engineering, environmental review, and design work.

"We're going to be able to expand the facility and change and implement a much safer operation out here for the long term as well as accommodating the greater capacity of traffic," Green said.

Drivers seeking real-time updates on the M-37 project can visit Michigan.gov/Drive.

For travelers heading to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, additional delays are expected from separate road improvement work on Patterson Avenue. The exit ramp from the airport to Patterson is closed, with single-lane closures maintaining two-way traffic. That project is expected to conclude by June 5, though weather may impact the timeline, according to Experience Grand Rapids.

"The number of times you might be able to do that is not many and I've been doing this for almost 30 years," Green said. "That's the biggest thing, it's going to be new."