It will take 6 weeks, $1.5 million to fix damage from fiery tanker crash on I-75

Troy — Fixing the damage to Interstate 75 caused by a tanker crash near Big Beaver will take six weeks and cost $1.5 million, the Michigan Department of Transportation said Friday.

Traffic will continue in the right lane of each direction while the repairs are made, but northbound entrance ramps at 14 Mile and Rochester as well as southbound entrance ramps at Crooks and Big Beaver will remain closed.

The tanker crashed Monday into the northbound median wall and caught fire. It was carrying 14,000 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, which took about four hours for the Troy Fire Department to put out.

The fire damaged not only the wall but also the pavement, leading to a shutdown of the center and left lanes of the road.

The driver had only minor injuries following the crash. No other injuries were reported.

Those lanes will be repaired first. After that is done, crews will rebuild the right lanes, MDOT said in a news release. Everything is expected to be reopened in six weeks.

In the meantime, drivers going north can get on I-75 at 12 Mile, Big Beaver and Crooks/Corporate Drive. Drivers going south can get on at Rochester, 14 Mile and 12 Mile.

MDOT plans to submit all costs associated with the repairs as well as with incident response and cleanup to the carrier's insurance company, it said in a news release.