Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


As if all the major freeway projects weren’t enough - a flurry of construction activity is planned on local roads this spring and summer.

The Livingston County Road Commission recently ran down some of the larger projects and traffic impacts for WHMI.

Director of Engineering Garrett Olson said some of the most impactful will be on Grand River, due to their time duration. However, he noted contractors want to get in and out as efficiently as possible so as not to hold up traffic and detours will be posted, but there are also a number of alternate routes motorists can utilize.

On Grand River, just east of the Kensington Road intersection over to the Oakland County line, that entire section of roadway will be reconstructed. Olson said it’s pretty beat up and that job is expected to last around two months from roughly early April to early June.

Just east of the Village of Fowlerville, a widening project is planned on Grand River at Cemetery Road which is to essentially prepare that intersection for a future traffic signal. Olson said the good news with that project though is traffic will be open on Grand River. Cemetery Road will have some traffic restrictions.

Another large reconstruction project is in Hartland Township at Crouse Road and Hartland Road. Olson said they’ll be reconstruction that small segment of Crouse Road between Hartland Road, over to the east toward the school entrance. He noted that project is currently under design but it’s being fast tracked. There’s no official start date but it’s anticipated to begin in early summer and take around one to two months.


As for other long-term duration closures, Olson said there are quite a few bridge and culvert projects on the books - which are a bit more time consuming.

On Rickett Road by Huron Meadows Metropark and The Legacy Center in Green Oak Township, the bridge over the Huron River will be replaced. Olson said it’s called a “super-structure replacement”. He said they’ll be replacing the deck and beams – meaning the abutments or the supports the bridge sits on are still in great shape so it will be a little bit shorter in duration. That job is slated to start in early June and the bridge and road will be closed for 2 to 3 months. During that time, notices will be posted but some of the water traffic will also be interrupted. Olson said kayakers will have some impacts with that bridge construction, as they don’t want people passing underneath it with unsafe conditions, so both the road and at times, the river, will be closed as well.

On Jones Road north of Howell, a bridge was recently closed and Olson says they’re working on a design for now and will hopefully get that replaced this year.

On Argentine Road, in the northern part of the county by Dean Road, a large culvert will be replaced.

On Parshallville Road by the Cider Mill, there’s a dam there and the deck and beams will be replaced.

On 8 Mile Road in the far southeast portion of the county sort of near Dixboro Road, a large culvert will be replaced there.

All of those jobs will have a somewhat extended duration of closure, ranging from 2 to 4 months for replacement.


Olson said they’ll also be doing a lot of quicker rehabilitation-type projects – mostly just asphalt replacement which are typically 1 to 2 weeks duration with flag control. There’s an extensive list but some include:

- Kensington Road, north of I-96, between Stobart and Pleasant Valley Road
- Herbst Road in Genoa Township
- Portions of Unadilla and Hadley Roads

Olson said the list is full with over 30 projects and they’ll have a busy season and summer getting everything back in shape. He noted they could always add or remove a couple of projects along the way but for the most part, the list is pretty solid.

In a week or so, the Road Commission will be posting a detailed project list and map for residents and visitors on its website and social media accounts.