The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Dam removal kicks off road construction schedule
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writers
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
Motorists in Dexter will have to learn to love the color orange over the next several months as road construction and other projects make navigating streets a challenge.
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Leading off this month is the removal of the Mill Creek Dam and replacement of the Main Street Bridge, which are well under way.
The Washtenaw County Road Commission is responsible for both ends of the project, although utility workers with DTE, AT&T and MichCon were out Monday removing their lines from inside the bridge structure, and in AT&T's case, removing a telephone pole.
It's just the beginning of a construction season that residents have been dreading and village officials have been anticipating and trying to prepare for.
Dexter Village Manager Donna Dettling says residents can expect to receive a map detailing exactly where the construction points will be in the village, along with a description of the project and how long it will take.
She asked village engineering consultant Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment (OHM) to design a map outlining construction "hot spots."
"We're going to try to get (it) as widely distributed as we possibly can," Dettling said.
"We want to distribute it to all of the businesses and make it available to residents. We even want to make sure our township neighbors receive it to let them know where to stay away from."
Dexter Community Schools will undertake construction on Ann Arbor Street starting in June and ending in August, Dettling said.
United Methodist Retirement Community could also begin work on the Cedars of Dexter on the Gordon Hall property off Island Lake Road within the next few months.
That will commence once the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the village work out an agreement on the village's Waste Water Treatment Plant's I&I (inflow and infiltration) issues.
That would close Island Lake Road for an undetermined amount of time.
Dettling said that while some of the half-dozen or so construction projects only have estimated start and completion dates, the village wants to "put a bunch of them on a map," so motorists can avoid them.
The village also just awarded a $369,625.20 contract for a Third Street improvement project last week to Florence Cement Co. of Shelby Township.
Also expect closures or narrowed lanes at Jeffords Street behind Hackney's Ace Hardware when the Downtown Development Authority closes a deal on property/easement acquisitions later this month.
Last week the village sold parcels that it owned to Schulz Development that will allow the construction of the Mill Creek Terrace building on Jeffords Street, which will contribute to even more road construction there.
Alpine Street closures are expected as construction of the new Dexter District Library ratchets up with the temperature.
The new library isn't expected to be completed until the fall.
"There is going to be orange everywhere ... there are so many projects because of requirements on where and how you place them," Dettling said.
"It's going to be very confusing to folks, which is why we're going to be proactive.'
The map and more detailed information on construction projects to watch for and their timetables will be published as soon as they are available.
According to Dettling, the OHM map would not be completed this week in time for the packet that will go with Monday's regularly scheduled village meeting, although it could be done in time for the next.
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