Long awaited road and bridge projects are slated for construction in Oceola Township.

The Livingston County Road Commission has a big slate of projects for the 2018 construction season, which includes the Eager Road intersection at M-59. The Eager Road bridge is also included in the list of projects. In October of 2016, the bridge located north of M-59 at Bigelow was closed by the Road Commission as a result of an inspection that found the load-carrying capacity of the bridge had been compromised. Oceola Township is partnering with the Road Commission to fund the project, which once completed, should improve traffic flow on both Eager and Bigelow Roads.

Managing Director Mike Craine tells WHMI the closure of the Eager Road bridge has had some big impacts and that will be completely reconstructed, while Eager Road will be realigned at M-59 in order to accommodate a traffic signal. Craine says the roads don’t quite line up and that will be done so M-DOT can put in a traffic signal in a separate project at a later date. He says the bridge will be completely reconstructed on a slightly different alignment that is much safer than the pre-existing one.

The Road Commission has been working toward fixing the bridge and realigning the road. Varying levels of elevation complicate the project but Craine says they’re making great progress in design work. He noted some tricky right-of-way discussions still need to be had with people who live along Eager Road but really want to improve the roadway and are aiming for 2018 construction to finally get everything resolved. (JM)