M-40 through Hamilton will be seeing big changes soon. Starting June 13, the section of road between 134th and 136th avenues will be torn up and repaved with the addition of a center turn lane in front of Hamilton elementary, connecting the two adjacent turn lanes on either end of that stretch. The project also includes chip sealing on M-40 south of that work, all the way to M-89.
Project engineer Daniel Roberts says that at times traffic will be down to just one lane through Hamilton, but he hopes to keep two as long as possible.
“If we can maintain two lanes we will, but unfortunately because of the limited area we have to work with we will have to flag from time to time but we will keep that at a minimum,” Roberts said.
Originally the project end date was set to coincide with start of school in late August, but Hamilton has since moved the start of school forward. Roberts still hopes to see the project done in time, with an expected finish date of Aug. 24.
“We hope to finish a couple days early as to not impact school,” Roberts said.
The budget for the project is currently estimated at $3,211,124.91. Senior inspector Tom Fox said the primary costs will be coming from the initial removal of the old pavement and the final resurfacing. Work in between will include replacements of the gravel and sewer drains.
Two things that were stressed during a May 24 meeting at Heath Township hall were that workers will not be working through the night and that the work will have no effect on the bridge that runs over the Rabbit River in Hamilton.
Roberts agreed business owners may feel the sting of the work making it difficult for customers to access them.
“Typically, we do see construction does have some impact on local businesses,” he said. “When we are done you will have a beautiful road in front of your business and, unfortunately, we can’t just make this happen overnight,”
Fox said, “Please be patient with us, we are coming in and trying to make the lowest impact that we can.”
An MDOT statement said, “The pavement repairs will be providing a better, safer, smoother driving experience. It will also extend the service life of the pavement resulting in less future maintenance impacts.”
The upcoming work is part of a five-year plan that is available on the Michigan Department of Transportation’s website, michigan.gov/mdot.
Contact Nicklas Grifhorst at (269) 673-5534.
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