Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills commuters heading west on I-696 lost another exit option Friday, Aug. 7, when the Michigan Department of Transportation closed the Southfield Road off-ramp at 9 a.m.

MDOT confirmed this is the final ramp closure of phase 2 of the Restore the Reuther project, the yearslong rebuild of I-696 through Oakland County. The ramp will stay closed through October, according to the DrivingOakland.com project page.

For drivers who typically exit at Southfield Road, only two westbound off-ramp options remain in the construction zone: Woodward Avenue in Birmingham and the M-10/Lahser/Telegraph interchange farther west, WXYZ reported.

The Southfield Road entrance ramp to westbound I-696 already closed July 31 and is also shut through October. Both directions are now blocked. Drivers near that interchange cannot get on or off the freeway.

The Woodward Avenue exit ramp reopened one day earlier, on Thursday, Aug. 6, after its own weeks-long closure. That ramp is now the closest westbound exit for Birmingham-area drivers.

"Frustrated they shutdown the Southfield cause now, there's no point for me to get on the freeway. I gotta take all streets to get where I gotta go," Southfield resident Tony Watson told WXYZ on Friday.

The broader Restore the Reuther project still has eastbound I-696 closed from M-10 to I-75. According to the DrivingOakland.com project page, eastbound lanes and all ramps in the construction zone are set to reopen before the end of 2026. Work between I-75 and Dequindre Road is scheduled for 2027, along with bridge improvements and drainage work.

Sixty bridges are being repaired as part of the project, including the Church Street Plaza bridge that contains Victoria Park.

Residents can check real-time ramp status at DrivingOakland.com or contact MDOT Metro Region spokesperson Diane Cross at 248-752-0336.