Four preservation overlays coming to Orion Township

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has begun its $79 million road construction season, which is expected to bring a wide range of road improvements to many parts of Oakland County.

This year’s list of road improvements includes many major resurfacing projects including major resurfacing, construction of six new roundabouts, paving of a gravel road, three bridge replacements, five culvert replacements and numerous simple resurfacing projects throughout Oakland County.

This year’s program also includes five projects that will add high-friction surface treatment to road to improve safety by reducing the likelihood of run-off-the-road crashes.

“In a continuation of the efforts of the last five years, this year’s program includes a lot of work that will significantly improve road safety and condition across the county,” RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar said in a press release. He added that the increased number of road improvement projects in Oakland County and across the state in recent years is directly tied to the increase in state road funding approved by the state Legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2015. The funding began to flow in 2017 and was phased in over six years, with the full amount of new funding arriving in 2022.

“While we still have a lot of work to do on our roads, construction programs like this one, and the improvements we have made over the last five years, mean the roads are in far better condition than they otherwise would have been,” Kolar said.

The scope of the work in Orion consists of preservation overlays or simple resurfacing projects. This work will take place on Waldon Road, Baldwin Road to Joslyn Road in Orion Twp.; Maybee Road, Rohr Road to Baldwin Road, in Orion Twp.; Brown Road, M-24 to Squirrel Road, at the Auburn Hills and Orion Twp. border; and Squirrel Road, Dutton Road to Silver Bell Road, in Orion Twp.

Specific time frames for the project have yet to be announced.