the freeway was to replace bridge beams in the overpasses from westbound I-196 to eastbound M-6. Design flaws were found in 2002 in the size of the beams in the bridges over eastbound I-196 and the ramp from westbound M-6 to westbound I-196. The replacement was originally supposed to close traffic along I-196 over a weekend in 2004, but kept a lane closed for a full week, backing up traffic on the Interstate for ; completion of the work was delayed when human error caused a shortage of nuts and bolts. MDOT hosted an open house along the unopened section of M-6 between Kalamazoo and Byron Center avenues. This event took place on October 2, 2004, and was billed as the "Southbelt Shuffle", allowing the public to walk or bike along the freeway. The event was planned to draw attention to the M-6 Trail that runs parallel to the freeway. Some event participants brought their horses for the chance to ride on the freeway. The whole freeway was opened to traffic on November 17, 2004, after a ribbon cutting ceremony. When opened, reconstruction work was still being completed on overpass bridges at the I-196 interchange on the west end. The entire project cost $700 million (equivalent to $ in ) to complete over the five-year construction period, about $35 million/mi (approximately $22 million/km, equivalent to $/mi or $/km in ). When the freeway was opened, it was the first in the state of Michigan to use a SPUI located at the Kalamazoo Avenue exit. All of the bridges and sound barrier walls were painted sienna beige as part of a "color theme" to the freeway. MDOT also used a new technique to recess the pavement markings into the concrete, designed to reduce the likelihood that snowplows would scrape them off. The signs are in miles, but "the entire M-6 freeway was designed and constructed in metric", according to MDOT manager Suzette Peplinski. The final ramps opened to traffic on December 9, 2004. After construction MDOT added the completed M-6 to the state maps in an updated printing in June 2005. At the time, the various online mapping services still did not show a complete freeway in eastern Ottawa or southern Kent counties. Services such as Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps rely on Tele Atlas out of New Hampshire for their mapping information, which, in turn, relies on agencies like MDOT to