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Traffic moved smoothly with a few exceptions, as it has since the official start of the construction project several weeks ago.

Local residents are also adapting their daily, travel routines to the detour that takes drivers east of Kalkaska on County Road 612, north on County Road 571 and back west to US-131 via Twin Lake Road.

"It's not too difficult getting around; the detour roads are all in good shape," says Ken Lowell, a Kalkaska area resident. "Traffic does back up sometimes at the intersection of US-131 and Nash Road (CR 612) and also at 612 and 571, depending on the time of day or during the weekend, but overall things seem to be going well."

That's music to the ears of John Rogers, manager of the Kalkaska County Road Commission, and others who are working on the 11.29-mile construction project that will result in a new surface for motorists on US-131 when the roadway is finished. The $8.5 million project should be completed by early November.

"We hope that people will stick to the designated detour route -that's our biggest concern," Rogers said. "People who use alternate routes have an adverse effect on the other gravel roads."

There's no doubt that the detour translates into slightly longer travel times for weekend motorists headed north and south through Kalkaska, as well as area residents who use the roadway on a daily basis. Completing the project effectively and as quickly as possible was a priority in the decision to establish the temporary route.

"Unless traffic was detoured, this project could not be completed in one construction season," said Rise Rasch, Michigan Department of Transportation manager for the Traverse City Transportation Service Center that is overseeing the project.

"Based on our experience in performing other projects in this area, we were aware that attempting to reconstruct roads while maintaining traffic with the use of traffic regulators (flaggers) would be much less productive, more costly and would result in unacceptably long traffic back-ups. As a result, motorists would begin to seek alternate routes and avoid the local area and businesses."

Splitting the total project into two phases of nearly equal mileage should provide relief for businesses in the construction zone. Phase one runs from the intersection of US-131 and County Road 612 in Kalkaska to Twin Lake Road; phase two goes from Twin Lake Road north to Elder Road in Antrim County near Mancelona.

"Doing the work in two phases reduces the overall duration of the closure for businesses on the north and south ends of US-131," Rasch said, adding that providing access to businesses is an important part of the project. "The contractor is required to maintain local access within the closed portion of US-131 for business patrons, employees and residents. Signs are also signs posted indicating that businesses are open at either end of the detour."

Rasch anticipates that work on the first phase should be completed in July. "We'll flip over and do the north end at that time," she said. Between now and then, the focus remains squarely on the south end -and the detour east and north of Kalkaska. Rogers is hopeful that regular, week-day traffic and all those weekend travelers will continue to exercise the same patience that was the norm over the Memorial Day weekend.

"There's a lot of ingress and egress on the detour route -motorists should be alert to residents' driveways, and homeowners need to look out for drivers, too," the road commission manager said. "Residents on the detour route aren't used to that amount of traffic, and drivers have to be aware of new stop signs where there weren't any before."

Lowell agrees. "It's not normally a four-way stop at 571 and 612 -that takes some getting used to," he said. Everyone, tourists and locals alike, need to keep one fact in mind. "The speed limit on the entire detour route is 45 mph, not 55 as it was before the detour was established -and, it's being enforced," Rogers said.