Downtown construction on Michigan Street begins, not expected to disrupt business
Downtown Mount Pleasant’s Michigan Street will soon be receiving a makeover.
Construction on Michigan Street began Monday and is expected to continue through August 17, redeveloping roughly 0.3 miles of city street between Fancher and Washington.
Roger Rousse, director of Public Works, said it’s time the street section was redeveloped.
“The streets have a life cycle,” Rousse said. “That street is at the end of its life cycle.”
The project is expected to cost $762,000. Malley Construction, the same contractor who provided labor for the previous project on Michigan Street, will also complete this project.
The construction will redevelop Michigan Street, replace portions of the storm sewer system and extend the sanitary sewer to some nearby buildings. Sewer leads will be installed at 401, 407, and 408 Michigan Street. A manhole will also be placed in front of Sacred Heart Academy at Franklin and Michigan streets.
Rousse said the work should meet expected needs.
“We don’t want to come back in five to 10 years and re-dig up the road,” Rousse said.
Dan McGuire, co-owner of Mount Pleasant-based T-Rex Resources Inc., said the road has needed to be fixed for a long time.
“The sidewalk out front has been crummy for years,” he said. “It’ll be good to get that fixed.”
Many businesses representatives said they expect the construction interruption to have a minimal impact on commerce.
Tanya Ehrsam, office manager at Crystal Computer Support, said although CCS relies in part on foot traffic, she does not foresee any large problems.
“It’s going to be broken up into small enough pieces that people should be able to access what they need downtown,” she said.
Brian Walton, a barber at Bob’s Barbershop, agreed any economic dip during construction would be minor.
“Most of our customers are repeat customers; they’ve been coming here for years,” Walton said. “It might affect some walk-in traffic, but other than that, we’ll stay as steady as we always are.”
