HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Aug. 12, 2026) – Five years after it was renovated, a stretch of I-196 near West Michigan Regional Airport will need to be repaired.
On Tuesday night, Michigan Department of Transportation crews blocked off the westbound/southbound lanes of the freeway at the Lincoln Road (M-40) exit due to a sinkhole that developed near the 45 mile marker, east of 60th Street. It was not immediately disclosed how deep the sinkhole is, what led to the sinkhole developing, or how many vehicles were damaged as a result of striking the sinkhole, before the roadway was blocked off.
MDOT officials say that the barricades are slated to be in place through next Tuesday evening while materials are gathered and repairs are made. A posted detour has traffic heading towards Saugatuck exiting at M-40, following that routing to US-31, and then heading south to reenter the freeway. Eastbound/northbound traffic should not be affected by this closure.
During the summer of 2021, MDOT contractors resurfaced more than three miles of westbound/southbound I-196, from M-40 to 60th Street, with joint replacement and a new guardrail, at a price tag of about $2.3 million.
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