Metro Detroit drivers are about to get some relief for a major traffic headache.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is nearing the end of its Restore the Reuther project. 

Crews have been rebuilding I-696 between I-75 and M-10 since early 2025. They took care of the eastbound lanes first and recently completed work on the westbound side.

Starting on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, MDOT will reopen the westbound lanes.

Spokesperson Diane Cross says they’ll also reopen all the off-ramps on westbound 696 except one–the Woodward Avenue exit. She says they were working on Woodward but had to stop because of the annual Dream Cruise.

“We have to come back and do some work on the service drive,” she says. “And because of that, we can’t have any traffic coming off the freeway through the area where we’re working.”

The end is near

To prepare for the reopening of the westbound lanes, MDOT will close the freeway between I-75 and M-10 from 9 p.m. on Oct. 9 until 5 a.m. on Oct. 12. 

Cross says eastbound 696 remains closed between M-10 and I-75, but that won’t last much longer

“We have to repair all those places where we were letting traffic cross over through the work zone,” she says. “We’ve got a lot of clean up in the median on before we can shift eastbound back.”

Cross says that work should be complete by the end of the year.

Once both sides of the freeway are open, drivers will no longer have to use the 26-mile detour around eastbound 696. It has taken traffic south on M-10, east on Davison, and north on 75 to rejoin the Reuther Freeway.

MDOT still has work to do on 696 between I-75 and Dequindre. That will start in 2027, but Cross says they won’t have to close the freeway.

“We will leave two lanes open in each direction,” she says. “It’ll be slow and there’ll be work, but traffic will be able to use the freeway.”

Maintenance will continue

Cross says drivers will see maintenance work on 696 in the years to come.

“We have to take care of small problems before they become big problems,” she says. “You want us doing maintenance because that makes the roadway last longer.”

Drivers can get updates on the project at MDOT’s Driving Oakland website.

The Detroit Red Wings have missed the last ten Stanley Cup playoffs, the longest active postseason drought in the National Hockey League. 

They hope to end that streak in 2026-27. But first, they have to overcome much inner tumult.

That starts with a big question–what should they do about center Dylan Larkin?

Movin’ out?

The Wings drafted Larkin in 2014. He was a rookie the last time the team made the playoffs in 2016. They haven’t qualified since then.

The 30-year-old forward wants to compete for a Stanley Cup before he’s too old. When the 2025-26 ended, Larkin said he wanted out of Detroit, even though his contract has a no-trade clause.

Larkin asked then-General Manager Steve Yzerman to waive that clause and deal him to one of three contending teams. Yzerman was either unwilling or unable to meet Larkin’s demands. In July, Yzerman abruptly stepped down as GM.

As the new season begins, Larkin is still a Red Wing, but he is no longer the captain. Detroit Free Press hockey writer Helene St. James says he’s also nursing an upper body injury that could keep him off the ice.

“He missed all of the preseason,” she says. “He has practiced with the team, but so far has yet to be on a regular line, even in practice.”

Larkin anchors Detroit’s first line. He scored 34 goals last season. St. James says it wouldn’t be easy to replace that kind of production, especially since the team doesn’t have a strong second-line center.

“The question is who’s going to score the goals?” she asks. “Patrick Kane is gone. James Van Riemsdyk is gone. That’s 31 goals between them.”

Even if Larkin stays with the team and returns to the ice, they still have to find a new leader. His trade demand cost him the “C” on his jersey. But if he’s not the captain, who is?

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

“So far, nobody,” St. James says, noting that one player stands out as a possible successor to Larkin.

“Moritz Seider has all the makings of being the next captain,” she says. Seider is a defenseman and captained Germany’s national men’s team in the 2026 Winter Olympics. For now, he and forward Lucas Raymond will serve as alternate captains. 

Whoever leads the team on the ice, owner Chris Ilitch must also find someone else to guide the ship off the ice. So far, he hasn’t been able to hire an experienced GM or assistant GM to succeed Yzerman. Two days before training camp began, Ilitch temporarily promoted player development director Shawn Horcoff to interim GM.  

St. James says at this point, Horcoff might have the job for a while.

“It’s very unheard of than an assistant GM would leave his team in the middle of the season,” she says. 

Whether anyone wants Yzerman’s old job remains to be seen. St. James says the Larkin situation has tarnished the image of an Original Six team that won four Stanley Cups between 1997 and 2008.

“It’s just hard to understand how such a proud franchise could have gotten to this point.”

The Red Wings open the season against the New York Rangers on Friday, Oct. 2 at Little Caesars Arena.