Oakland County Plans For $34M In Road Projects This Year
BEVERLY HILLS (WWJ) - The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) plans to construct more than $34 million worth of road projects during the 2012 construction season.
This year's project list is composed of 18 projects, including road widenings, reconstructions, gravel road pavings and bridge replacements. Among these are:
- The widening of Crooks Road from Star Batt Drive to north of Hamlin in Rochester Hills, which will be reconstructed as a five-lane road.
- The complete reconstruction of Lahser Road between 11 Mile and 12 Mile roads in Southfield, including the addition of a continuous, center left-turn lane.
- The paving of the gravel portion of Cooley Lake Road from east of Duck Lake Road to Mystic Valley Street on the Milford Twp./Highland Twp. border and the White Lake Twp./Commerce Twp. border.
- Replacement of the Avon Road bridge over the Clinton River in Rochester Hills.
View the full list of projects (.pdf format)
RCOC Chairman Eric Wilson said they have an aggressive road improvement program this year, despite the continued insufficiency of state and federal road funding.
"However, we are still barely scratching the surface of the road needs in Oakland County, and even with these projects, the system is still deteriorating faster than we can improve it, due to Michigan's decades of under-funding its roads," Wilson said in a release.
Most of the 2012 road improvements are being paid for through multiple funding sources, as RCOC continues to seek ways to stretch its limited resources. Eighty percent of the cost of most of the major road construction projects will be paid for with federal road dollars (generated by the federal gas tax), with the remaining 20 percent typically split between RCOC and the local community in which the projects take place.
A number of projects will also be funded through the Tri-Party Program, which is a combination of dollars in equal parts from three sources: Oakland County general government, the Road Commission and individual communities.
Wilson cautioned motorists to expect delays on various roads around the county as the projects get underway, and asks motorists to remember the workers in construction areas.
Road construction season starts as soon as weather permits and runs until weather prohibits further work, typically in mid-November.
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