Warm weather brings slew of construction in the area
Mount Pleasant’s roads are receiving facelifts.
Traffic projects include the completion of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s US-127 redesign from last year and the addition of a mini circle on Arnold Street, as well as renovations of Bellows Street.
Isabella County and Mount Pleasant will reconstruct and resurface roads, including portions of Isabella Road, Michigan and Broomfield streets.
City
Asphalt overlays and sewer relining dominate city road construction projects this summer, with little disruption to traffic, said Public Works Director Duane Ellis.
These projects already began, Ellis said, and usually take one work day to complete.
“These are major (for the city), but not a big travel impact,” Ellis said.
The city will reconstruct Michigan Street from Fancher to Mission, focusing on narrowing lanes and adding bike lanes.
Michigan Street will have bump-out parking by next school year, Ellis said.
The city will bid the Michigan Street project May 7, he said.
Bellows Street will receive reconstruction from Mission Street to Lansing Street, Ellis said, and the city will add a mini-circle at Arnold Street.
“We’re bidding this as a separate project (from the downtown-to-campus connector),” Ellis said. “This has a fair impact on university operations, the city and students.”
County
Isabella County’s focus this summer is on reconstruction, said Managing Director Tony Casali.
Mission Road from Milllbrook to Deerfield roads in Union Township will receive a new overlay, he said.
“There are a couple of bad spots we have to work out in there,” Casali said.
An additional left-turn lane will be added at the intersection of Pickard Street and Isabella Road, he said, as well as shoulder widening on Isabella Road.
The county receives requests from 16 townships, Casali said.
“We still will have other projects as they trickle in,” he said.
MDOT
Several projects occur this summer through MDOT’s Mount Pleasant Transportation Service Center, said Manager Terry Palmer.
Along with the completion of last year’s US-127 venture, the branch will tackle a section of the highway from North of Mount Pleasant to Clare, he said.
A section of M-20 in Midland County also is receiving resurfacing work that began Monday according to MDOT’s website.
The Mount Pleasant TSC covers work in Isabella, Midland, Clare, Gladwin and Gratiot counties.
Further projects will happen this summer as well, Palmer said.
“It’s a good average (of work) for five county areas,” he said. “It’s probably $30 million worth of work this year.”
