In the News

The Livingston County Road Commission was recently presented with an Award of Excellence by the Michigan Concrete Paving Association for the reconstruction of Grand River Road, from US-23 to Pleasant Valley Road, constructed in 2008. The project was nominated in the large scale, urban collector class of projects completed in Michigan in 2008. The award was presented to the commissioners March 30, 2009 at the road commission offices in Howell, Michigan. Congressman Mike Rogers participated in the presentation.

The project was judged based on quality, safety, public relations, complexity, innovation, and aesthetics. It was co-winner in the competitive "urban arterial projects greater than 30,000 square yards" category. The panel of awards judges noted the significant effort to improve safety and sight distances in the re-design of the road.

"We’re honored to receive this award," said Chairman Dave Peckens. "I can tell you that we would not be receiving this without the many contributions from the engineers and technicians who worked so hard to make it a reality. We also wouldn’t be here without the financial assistance secured for our county by Congressman Mike Rogers."

Congressman Rogers was instrumental in securing an additional $1.6 million for construction at a critical moment in the development of the project. "Mike Rogers made this happen," said Peckens. "The High Priority Project funding made the difference in our ability to bring this job forward."

The road commission reconstructed and widened a two mile stretch of East Grand River between U.S. 23 and Pleasant Valley Road. It tore out the 100 year old road bed and replaced it with a new stone base and interior drainage system. The engineering team selected a modern Portland cement concrete pavement that incorporated state of the art construction quality control to ensure service for a long time.

"We also want to recognize the exceptional job done by our contractor team led by Six-S, Incorporated of Waterford," said County Highway Engineer Jodie Tedesco. "They were committed to high quality results every step of the way. And they did this while accommodating almost 16,000 highway users every day with as few impacts as possible."

The road commission staff directed the field construction activities. "We also want to thank and commend Fred Marr, Sonny Newton, Todd Ames, Tom Barron, John Shelton, and Tracey Hines for their hard work and commitment to quality in the delivery of this high impact project," Tedesco added.

The $8.1 million project began on November 7, 2007, and was completed in November 2008. Federal and state funds totaled $6.0 million. The balance was paid by the road commission from its income from the Michigan Transportation Fund. There was over $1.0 million in utility relocation expenses. The cooperating utilities included AT & T, Consumers Energy, DTE Energy, and the Fonda-Island-Briggs Lake Joint Water Authority. In addition, Providence Hospital donated 1.34 acres of right of way to the project.

PROJECT FACTS:

• 61,665 square yards of high performance concrete pavement

• 113,000 tons of road base aggregate

• 11,325 tons of Hot Mix Asphalt

• 5 custom designed bioswales, an environmentally sensitive method of storm water management

• 16,552 feet of curb and gutter

• 135 drainage structures

• 1.98 miles of storm sewer

• Project design by Orchard, Hiltz, & McCliment of Livonia

• Pavement design and quality assurance by Soils and Materials Engineers of Plymouth

• Environmental designs by Niswander Environmental of Brighton

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