Carol Greenberg tells The Blade there were no signs warning about the work on southbound Interstate 275, about 30 miles north of Toledo.
So, she says she got stuck idling for about 50 minutes while trying to get home with her cat after a visit to a veterinarian outside Detroit.
She says her cat Sammy disliked the delay and howled the whole time.
In response, the Michigan Department of Transportation wrote her, saying it's unable to reimburse drivers for time, wages, or gas lost in work zone back-ups.