By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Area residents and businesses have an opportunity to weigh in during a virtual meeting tomorrow in which federal road funding will be divvied up for different projects.

The Oakland County Federal Aid Committee, which selects projects to receive federal road funding in the county, will meet at 9am. The meeting will be conducted virtually via conference call. The public is invited to attend the meeting and offer input on agenda items.

The committee is responsible for selecting road-improvement projects to receive federal road funds anticipated to come to Oakland County in coming years. For 2025, the committee anticipates approximately $19 million being available to award for road projects. The projects must be on roads that are eligible for federal road funds and under Road Commission, city or village jurisdiction in Oakland County. Projects to receive federal road funds are typically selected three years prior to construction.

All projects submitted are rated and ranked based on an objective point system - which takes into account safety considerations, traffic volumes, traffic operations, cost and other factors. The types of projects typically funded include resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation; reconstruction; and widening / capacity improvements.

There are two local submissions for major resurfacing projects. One is from the Village of Milford, on Milford Road from Abbey Lane to the CSX railroad crossing. The other comes from the City of Wixom for a project on Napier Road from 12 Mile to Grand River.

Road Commission Public Information Officer Craig Bryson tells WHMI it’s a very fair process and ultimately, the projects that need it the most get the funding. He says a number of projects have been submitted by all eligible communities and during tomorrow’s meeting, the Committee will go through and pick out which ones get funding. All of the projects have already been submitted and rated based on a point system, with points assigned to them. Bryson says the committee will go through the list and pick which ones get the funding until they run out of money.

Also at the meeting, Bryson says an update will be provided on all of the projects expected to happen this year that have already received federal funding – whether or not they’ll happen or are on schedule. He noted if it looks like a project won’t happen, then this is the point the Committee could swap out another project so they don’t lose the federal funding.

The committee is made up of representatives of the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), SMART (the suburban bus system) and all communities in the county.

Anyone interested can listen to the meeting and offer comments by calling in to 810-337-8118. They should then enter conference ID number 873 51 043# (must include the # sign).