It is just about mid-July and I thought it was a good time to review progress on the construction season. While debate rages on in both Lansing and Washington about additional dollars needed to improve our transportation systems, MDOT and local agencies are spending the existing dollars making needed improvements in the region. I know it has been a major pain for many of you to get around, but good progress has been made on many of the important projects in the region. We do not have a project of the magnitude as the I-96 reconstruction we saw last year, but we have several good-size projects that will address local concerns once they are complete. Projects include:
- Improvement at the US-23/I-96 interchange
- M-1 Rail construction in downtown and Midtown Detroit
- Reconstruction of I-75 from Dixie Highway to I-275 in Monroe County
- Reconstruction of M-53 (Van Dyke) from 15 to 18 Mile
- Construction of a roundabout at 14 Mile and Orchard Lake Road
- Improvements to Schoenerr from 14 Mile to Moravian
- Reconstruction of Beck Road from Warren to Ann Arbor Trail
As of a few weeks ago, local road agencies have spent every dime of federal money that Congress has made available to them and are waiting for more. Congress has not yet allocated all of the FY15 dollars in the budget – to date only about 5/6 of the available dollars have been authorized to be spent. They need to act by the end of July to both extend the existing federal legislation and include additional dollars. Meanwhile, local road agencies complete plans and send them to Lansing waiting for them to be reviewed and for additional dollars to be made available.
Many smaller projects aimed at prolonging the life of pavement, fixing intersections, installing new traffic lights, reconstructing bridges, and receiving new buses are also happening. Dollars are being spent efficiently and things are getting fixed – but not fast enough compared to what is deteriorating at the same time. The next several weeks will provide some insight on the future – can’t wait to see how this all comes out!
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