The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is bringing $109 million in improvements over the next give years, including road projects in thirteen Mid-Michigan counties.

"The Bay Region contains many important tourist and international trade routes. Despite fewer resources, MDOT will continue to work on infrastructure and service improvements," said MDOT Bay Region Engineer Robert Ranck Jr. in a press release. "Safety investments will serve motorists by improving the pavement and bridge condition, extending the life of the roadways throughout the region, and improving traffic mobility for years to come."

Here is the 2011 planned projects from MDOT:

      - I-675 at Warren Avenue, Saginaw County, includes interchange ramp construction, bridge removal and replacement, and deck replacement work on Veterans Memorial Parkway.

      - I-75 from Crane Road to Squaconning Creek and work over Goetz Drain, Saginaw and Bay counties, includes reconstruction and culvert work.

      - I-75 from Linwood Road to north of Pinconning Road, Bay County, includes resurfacing and bridge rehabilitation.

      - I-75, Genesee County, includes bridge work from I-69 to the Genesee/Saginaw county line.

      - I-69, Genesee and Lapeer counties, includes bridge work.

      - US-127 Business Route (BR)/M-61, Clare County, includes mill and resurfacing from south of M-61 to County Farm Road, and intersection improvements.

      - US-127 BR (Mission Street), Mt. Pleasant, Clare County, resurfacing.

            MDOT also is dedicated $6.2 million to road repair projects, including Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) infrastructure development.

      "Utilizing new technologies like ITS devices will provide motorists with important real-time information and improve traffic flow," Ranck said.

      Although all ITS devices are not yet functional, MDOT expects to have a statewide operations center working by mid-May and to have ITS message boards along I-75 displaying current construction and incident reports. Overall ITS systems, including message boards on US-10 and US-127, are scheduled to display real-time travel information by the end of the 2011 construction season.

      Crews are currently installing electronic message signs on southbound US-127, just north of the MDOT Welcome Center in Clare County, and eastbound US-10, just east of the Bay City Road interchange in Bay County. ITS components already are in place on I-75 at the north and south junctions of I-475 in Genesee County, including electronic message signs, three communications towers and electronic vehicle speed detectors; and on I-75 near I-675 in Saginaw and Bay counties, including seven closed circuit television cameras and three electronic message signs. Eventually, 65 miles of freeway in the MDOT Bay Region will be monitored using ITS.