The City of East Grand Rapids has released its tentative road construction and maintenance schedule for spring and summer 2018.
In 2015, City residents passed a ballot proposal to allow the City to collect 2.0 mills for street and sidewalk improvements. Since the passing, the City has worked aggressively to upgrade the 47 miles of street and 80 miles of sidewalk within the City.
“We appreciate that our residents provided the path to fix and upgrade our infrastructure with the passing of the millage,” said Doug LaFave, assistant city manager. “Since then, our team has been focused on efficiently working through our street and sidewalk improvement plan.
“We are getting a head start on many projects this spring and will work as quickly as possible to complete the work, with the goal of minimizing impact to commuters.”
Street Related Projects:
- Andover Lane - Berwyk Road to the end
- Argentina Drive - Breton Road to Pinecrest Avenue
- Arundel Road - Berwyk Road to Conlon Avenue
- Boston Street - Andover Road to Conlon Avenue
- Brighton Drive - Exeter Road to Boston Street
- Eastwood Avenue - Lake Drive to Hall Street
- Estelle Drive/Eastlawn Road - Elmwood Drive to Audobon Drive
- Floral Avenue - Argentina Drive to San Jose Drive
- Laurel Avenue – Wealthy Street to Sherman Street
- Maxwell Avenue - Argentina Drive to Lake Drive
- Ogden Avenue - Argentina Drive to Lake Drive
- Oxford Road - Brighton Drive to Englewood Drive
- Reeds Lake Boulevard - Pioneer Club Road to Manhattan Road
- Rosalind Road - Elmwood Drive to Boston Street
- Whitfield Road - Englewood Drive to the end
Combined with Utility Projects:
- Argentina Drive - Breton Road to Pinecrest Avenue, water main
- Boston Road - Andover Road to Conlon Avenue, water main
- Berwyck Road - Breton Road to Arundel Road, storm sewer
The City aims to have construction projects completed by July 2018, baring any unforeseen circumstances. The exception to this is the Breton Road project, which is a federally funded project and administered through the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The Breton Road project, which will be from Lake Drive to the south City limit, will include removing and replacing the street surface, ADA ramp upgrades, traffic signal upgrades and several areas of road base replacement and spot curb replacement. This project is anticipated to commence on June 18 and be completed in mid-August.
As part of 2015 millage, the City has invested more funds into the annual targeted sidewalk rehab and replacement program. This year, the sidewalk target area will focus on neighborhoods south of Boston. Minor sidewalk imperfections will be ground down and sidewalk sections that meet replacement criteria will be replaced. Work began in April and will continue as crews are available throughout the summer.
Preventative maintenance
A number of major streets, including Lake Drive, Wealthy Street, Hall Street and Plymouth Avenue, will receive cape seal treatments this summer. A cape seal is a chip seal covered with slurry, which creates a smooth surface with an increased durability by sealing the subbase. Work will take a few hours on each segment of road so disruption will be limited to a morning or afternoon on treatment days. Other preventative street maintenance work, including patching and pothole filling, is scheduled to take place during the summer months as crews have capacity.
These projects are scheduled to take place between July 1 and mid-October.
“We know construction season can be frustrating with increased commute times and having to take alternative routes,” said LaFave. “We appreciate everyone’s patience as crews work as quickly and efficiently as possible to complete all of our projects. Having up-to-date infrastructure is key to a quality community so we are committed to maintaining and improving the streets and sidewalks in East Grand Rapids.”
For more information, including an interactive map of projects, click here.