The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Road Commission begins record season
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 28, 2008
Pre-construction work is already under way on many 2008 road and bridge improvement projects as part of the Washtenaw County Board of Road Commission's 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
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The CIP is now available for public viewing on the Road Commission Web site at www.wcroads.org.
As shown in the CIP, the Road Commission begins 2008 with a record-breaking season of road improvements, having successfully acquired $45 million in funding through state and federal grants and local contributions.
The first few years of the CIP, 2008 and 2009, are very aggressive. During that period, the Road Commission will be completing many important and needed road improvements, as well as replacing or rehabilitating a number of bridges and culverts.
In addition, the CIP includes a Preventative Maintenance Plan that will help to ensure the long-term stability of the Washtenaw County road network.
However, after the 2009 construction season, transportation funding on both the state and federal levels are expected to decrease substantially, thus limiting the number of road improvements from 2010 to 2012.
"Unfortunately, once our funding dries up, it will force us into having to reduce the level of road services Washtenaw County residents and the traveling public have come to expect," stated Steve Puuri, road commission managing director.
"If our state and federal legislators cannot agree on a means by which to continue to fund our road system, a decline in our services is inevitable," Puuri said.
"(This) will dramatically impact our county roads, and ultimately reverse all the efforts we have made over the past five years to proactively address the need to expand the roadways in congested urban areas, as well as adequately maintain our existing transportation network," he added.
Major road improvements planned for this year include the Jackson Road Phase III boulevard project in Scio Township; the Geddes Road-Superior Road roundabout project and the Geddes Road-LeForge Road intersection project, both in Superior Township; the reconstruction of Holmes Road between Rue Deauville and Spencer Lane in Ypsilanti Township; the completion of the Carpenter Road project in Pittsfield Township which began in 2007; and continuation of the road improvements on Platt, Willis and Bemis roads, which are being completed in association with the new Toyota Technical Center in York Township.
In addition, several bridges and culverts will be replaced this construction season.
They include the Main Street Bridge over Mill Creek between Dexter-Chelsea Road and Alpine Street in Scio Township and the village of Dexter; the Liberty Road Bridge over the Haas Drain between Dancer and Steinbach roads in Lima Township; the Harris Road Bridge over Fowler Creek between Vreeland Road and Cherry Hill Road in Ypsilanti Township; and the Schleweis Road Culvert over Iron Creek, between Bowens Road and Lemm Road in Manchester Township.
Also, later this year, the road commission will rehabilitate the East Delhi Road Bridge over the Huron River in Scio Township.
Progress on projects can be viewed on the Road Commission Web site under "Roadwork."
This section of the site provides up-to-date information on projects, construction schedules, detour routes and other road improvement activities.
Public information meetings that pertain to projects will also be posted on the site when they are scheduled throughout the coming months.
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