The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Funding issues could delay construction on viaduct
By Sandi Kasha, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 29, 2007
The Washtenaw County Road Commission has confirmed that work on the Main Street Bridge will be initiated in 2008, but because of funding issues work on the viaduct may be delayed indefinitely.
Advertisement
The news didn't sit well with the Village Council.
"We don't know where we stand or what will happen with the project," Village Trustee Paul Cousins said Tuesday. "There is lack of communication between us and the Road Commission. It's frustrating because of these senseless delays."
The setback is related to a lack of funding, said Steve Puuri, managing director of the Road Commission.
Puuri said an additional $1.6 million would be required from the Road Commission for Phase 2.
"We simply don't have the funds for it and the grant won't cover the entire project," he said.
The Road Commission was awarded $5.5 million from the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2005.
The Road Commission had used $250,000 of the grant to use toward the Parker Road Bridge.
According to the Road Commission, $1.5 million of the grant will cover the bridge's replacement, dam removal, design, inspection, construction and sediment remediation.
The grant won't cover about $1 million of the project. The Road Commission plans to contribute about $560,000 and the village is expected to pay $450,000.
The second phase of the project, which includes the viaduct replacement and realigning Dexter-Chelsea Road, won't happen any time soon. Puuri said the Road Commission has some 34 capital improvements to focus on for the county.
"Phase 2 was never really on our capital improvements plan," he said. "We went back and determined what projects were going to be eliminated."
Lima Township's Parker Road and Scio Township's East Delhi bridges are among the capital improvements projects, Puuri said.
Village Manager Donna Dettling said that the remainder of the grant will be taken back by MDOT if it's not used by 2010.
"I wonder if the Road Commission would be able to secure it for other projects," Dettling said Monday.
Puuri said the Road Commission wouldn't get the remainder of the grant.
"It is allocated to the Road Commission for the Main Street Bridge and associated project," he said. "They (MDOT) would take it back and put it in their critical bridge pool."
MDOT's grant didn't award enough money to complete the entire project, Puuri said.
He said that while it's ideal to widen the viaduct and realign the road to mitigate traffic congestion, the Road Commission doesn't have the funds to initiate the project.
"We have made recommendations to the village that we're willing to manage the proposed Phase 2 if the village can commit to funding all local costs associated with the second phase," Puuri said.
The bridge's current weight limit is 10 tons, but the Road Commission may decrease the limit when it inspects the bridge in May.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
