MDOT, road commission outline projects.

April 3, 2017

MDOT, road commission outline projects.

#OceanaCountyNews #OceanaCountyRoadCommission #MichiganDepartmentofTransportation

By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — With road construction season soon approaching, the Oceana County Road Commission and the Michigan Department of Transportation shared information with OCP about upcoming and potential projects in Oceana County.

This time of year especially it’s evident that many local roads are crumbling and in desperate need of repairs. After the snow melts, the pot holes emerge.

There are 1,100 miles of roads in Oceana County that serve a local population of 26,000, said Oceana County Road Commission Managing Director Mark Timmer.

Determining which roads will be repaired depends on several factors, Timmer said, such as the local municipalities’ requests for repairs; how busy the road is; whether the road is a candidate for state and federal grants; whether the road is in need of investment preservation of previous work; and how badly the road is failing.

One of the county’s busiest roadways, which is set for repairs this summer, is the southern end of Oceana Drive. Oceana Drive from Skeels Road at the Muskegon-Oceana counties line to the Village of Rothbury is traveled by an average of 8,000 vehicles per day, Timmer said. Oceana Drive from the Village of New Era to M 20 will also be repaired, Timmer said. The two projects total $200,000, he said, and are set for chip seal construction beginning in June.

Chip sealing, which seals the road surface, extends the life of a road by at least five years, Timmer said. It is obviously a much faster and economical way to repair a road than re-paving it, which offers longer term benefits.

OCRC projects include:

Oceana Drive: chip seal Skeels Road to Rothbury and Village of New Era to M 20, June start date. Total cost: $200,000. (Mentioned above)

Oceana Drive: repair north of Hart City limits at the south branch of the Pentwater River to Monroe Road. Overlay of bad areas with a thin coat of asphalt this summer.

Oceana Drive: total reconstruction from Pentwater River to Monroe Road will be in three phases from 2018-2020. From the river bridge to Lever Road in 2018; from Lever Road to Jackson Road, 2019; and Jackson Road to Monroe Road, 2020. Total cost: $1.8 million through state and federal funds.

Monroe Road: repave from west of 112th Avenue to 126th Avenue in Crystal and Weare townships. Late summer/early fall start date. Total cost: $2 million through state funds.

Water Road in Grant Township: repave from Cleveland to Garfield roads. This project, which is funded through a portion of the ticket sales from the Electric Forest Festival at the Double JJ Resort this summer, is slated for completion prior to the start of the festival that begins June 22. Total cost: $181,000.

Polk Road: chip seal from 56th Avenue to 64th Avenue in Golden Township. June start date. Total cost: $55,000.

Deer Road: chip seal from 48th Avenue to 56th Avenue in Golden Township. Project to be completed in May. Total project cost: $300,000.

Upper Silver Lake subdivision roads: approximately 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 miles of roads to be chip sealed. Total cost: $240,000-$260,000.

Lakeview Drive: Monroe Road in Pentwater Township to the dead end. Project to be completed some time this summer. Total cost: $150,000-$175,000.

OCRC has several potential projects, which include:

HART TOWNSHIP
Tyler Road: east of Oceana Drive to 88th Avenue.
72nd Avenue: Filmore Road to Baseline Road.
Taylor Road: Water Road to 64th Avenue.
Tyler Road: east of 88th Avenue to 112th Avenue.
Polk Road: Oceana Drive to 100th Avenue.

BENONA TOWNSHIP
Woodrow Road: west Scenic Drive to Sable View.
Baker Road: 40th Avenue to the township hall parking lot.
Baker Road: west of 40th Avenue for at least a half mile.
48th Avenue: Shelby Road to Johnson Road, pave the dip.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP
Baker Road: Oceana Drive east for 4,150 feet.
Baker Road: Oceana Drive to expressway.

NEWFIELD TOWNSHIP
Loop Road: 160th Avenue to 190th Avenue.
Warren Road: 192nd Avenue to Baseline Road (2018 project)

OTTO TOWNSHIP
Arthur Road: 148th Avenue to 160th Avenue, and 112th Avenue to 128th Avenue.

GRANT TOWNSHIP
72nd Avenue: Skeels Road to Webster Road.
Webster Road: 64th Avenue to 80th Avenue.
Clay Road: Oceana Drive to 80th Avenue.
Cleveland Road: 80th Avenue to Oceana Drive.

CLAYBANKS TOWNSHIP
Wilke Road: 48th Avenue to 56th Avenue.

PENTWATER TOWNSHIP
Hammett Road: from east village to township line (2018 project)
Ridge Road: south township line to Jackson Road (2018 project)

WEARE TOWNSHIP
66th Avenue: Oceana Drive to Washington Road.
72nd Avenue: Monroe Road to the north.
VanBuren Road: Oceana Drive to 88th Avenue.
Hogan Road: Oceana Drive to 80th Avenue.
104th Avenue: Monroe Road to the township line.

*Townships not listed have no projects scheduled.

MDOT projects include:

– Chip seal on M 20 from 144th Avenue to Hesperia and resurfacing within the Hesperia village limits. Work is scheduled for June through August. “This project is about 21 miles long and goes into Newaygo County,” MDOT Communications Representative John Richard said. Total cost: $1.7 million.

– Resurface M 20 from Winter Street east to Greenback Street. Work is scheduled for June and July. Total cost: $239,000.

– Resurface the Rothbury rest area’s parking lot on US 31. Work is scheduled for May. The project entails milling off the top layer of asphalt and putting down new asphalt in the parking lot, said Richard. Total cost: $154,000.

– Sign upgrades on Oceana Drive from M 20 to the Pentwater River. Work is scheduled for fall of 2017. Total cost: $100,000.

“We’d like to do some patching on US 31 between Shelby and Hart, but that is dependent on maintenance budget,” Richard said. However, the likelihood of that work is “currently not favorable.”

Tags: michigan department of transportation, Oceana County News, oceana county road commisison