Five Area Road Projects Could Be Stopped By Lockout

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The lockout of some 2,000 union road construction workers is likely to impact several projects in southwest Michigan. The Michigan Department of Transportation tells WSJM News the labor stoppage initiated by the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, or MITA, might shut down three projects on I-94. Two are in Berrien County with one being repaving between Three Oaks Road and Red Arrow Highway and the other being a repaving from M-239 and Kruger Road. In Van Buren County, work is halted on a repaving of I-94 west of County Road 365. The two other projects that are stopped are on US-12 in Edwardsburg in Cass County and M-40 south of M-60 along Bair Lake. MITA locked out the union engineers on Tuesday as their contract had expired in June. Both sides blame each other, and MDOT officials say they’re caught in the middle. Department spokesman Nick Schirripa tells us they don’t know yet what the local impact will be.