By Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Brighton officials say there’s been a delay in completing the last part of the Rickett Road project and they won’t be able to finish it until sometime in May.

The project was necessitated by the partial collapse of an 80-year-old sewer line north of the CSX railroad tracks and the poor condition of the road itself. Road construction is considered an essential service, and thus is not covered by Stay at Home protocols issued by the governor’s office. Despite that, Brighton Dept. of Public Services Director Marcel Goch says that due to the unseasonably cold spring, the plant that makes asphalt for road surfaces used by the contractor for the project is not yet open. Not only that, but the hot asphalt applied to roads has to be at a certain temperature. Goch says the cold temperatures "cool the asphalt too quickly, making it harder to compact."

Goch says he’s hopeful the contractor will be able to get the project started by the first of May and completed 1-2 weeks afterward. The area in questions extends from Grand River Ave. to the railroad tracks, which includes a small portion of Church Street. The contractor was forced to stop the project before the final layer of payment was applied because of the early arrival of winter and the decision of the plant supplying asphalt to the contractor to stop making the product until spring.

During the detour period, drivers were forced to take a lengthy alternate route via Lee Road, Old US-23 and Grand River. City officials decided to put the street in drivable condition for the winter months until the final layer of pavement and any remaining work could be completed this spring. The total cost of the project is estimated at roughly $979,159.70 with the funds coming from the city’s utility fund for the sewer portion and its street fund for the road portion. City officials stress that none of the street millage revenue has been used for the work.