By Marlon A. Walker, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

You've been lied to this whole time.

New signs on the reconstructed portion of I-96, which reopened Sunday evening after nearly six months of work, tell motorists when they can exit on to Middle Belt or Beech-Daly.

And all along you thought it was Middlebelt and Beech Daly.

The names on the new signs are not typos.

It's like everything you thought you knew about metro Detroit doesn't exist anymore.

The Twitter account set up for the reconstruction, @96fix, tweeted about the "change" days before a commemoration ceremony allowed pedestrians, bikers and skateboarders to preview the new freeway. Two words on Middle Belt is the correct spelling, according to Wayne County, which owns the road.

Some in the area said it could take some time getting used to the name changes, er, corrections.

"I'm going to have to change my menus," said Kal Farah, a managing partner of the International House of Pancakes in Livonia on Middlebelt — oops, Middle Belt (old habits die hard) — near I-96. "I've been here 17 years and … wow."

MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross said the new signs were made during the reconstruction to reflect what the department knew to be true. She said she did not know how long signs with the incorrect names were on the freeway, or whether city and county officials would be changing their street signs.

The Official Street Guide of Metropolitan Detroit, published by Arrow Map, lists the streets as Middle Belt and Beech Daly (no hyphen).

Livonia officials did not return calls seeking comments on the signs Tuesday.

Kimberly Woodward, who works at the Wine Palace in Livonia on the street near I-96, said while the new information was surprising, it wasn't cause for outrage.

"If they're going to do it, they're going to do it," she said about the two-word spelling. "But it makes no sense to spend all that money to change out the signs."

Contact Marlon A. Walker: 313-223-4531 or mwalker@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @marlonawalker.