Traffic noise caused the audience to strain to hear speakers? comments, but the noise seemed fitting for the event.
Local and county officials gathered at Pine Knob Elementary School on Nov. 17 for a ribbon cutting ceremony symbolically opening Sashabaw Road’s new four-lane boulevard.
Although construction workers were still putting finishing touches on pavement just north of the school near Bowpointe Drive, the roadway was fully opened to traffic Nov. 12 after about eight months of full-scale construction. Site preparation and off-pavement utility work actually began the previous winter, with storm sewer work accomplished in March 2004.
While some cleanup and decorative work will continue next spring, virtually all of the pavement, signs and traffic signals are in.
Brent Bair, managing director of the Road Commission for Oakland County, offered thanks for the patience of businesses and motorists who had to put up with dust, lane closures and, in some cases, closed turn lanes and business access drives.
‘I hope you’ll agree with me that the short-term inconvenience was a worthwhile investment which will generate a safer, more efficient road,? Bair said.
In one of his last formal acts as Independence Township Supervisor, Dale Stuart briefly reviewed the history of the project, which had its roots as early as 1993.
‘The township, through its 20/20 strategic plan, had a vision of how Sashabaw Road should develop and what it should look like,? Stuart said, alluding to the township’s master plan for the ‘town center? area between Maybee and Waldon roads.
The area includes plans for new residential, retail and light industrial development, some of which is already in progress. RCOC estimated 29,000 vehicles a day currently, on a two-lane road with deteriorating pavement. The new boulevard will help handle what is estimated as a 62,000-vehicle load by 2025.
Stuart also thanked RCOC officials, local businesses and other agencies for their help and cooperation.
‘This project has been a team effort,? he said. ‘The result, as you can see, is magnificent.?
The team effort required a creative financing agreement, the negotation of which almost caused a delay in construction. In September 2003, the Independence Township Board scrapped a proposal to create a special assessment district to provide local matching funds for the $11 million project, the majority of which was paid through federal funds.
Thanks to right-of-way donations by property owners, township offiicals were able to provide the $1.1 million local match without raising local taxes. The township government also paid for watermain upgrades, new street lighting and an irrigation system for the new boulevard.
In addition, the township and the road commission each contributed 10 percent of the engineering, right-of-way and contractor cost.
Clarkston Community Schools also had to pay for the relocation of fiber optic lines along Sashabaw Road, but the district recovered the majority of the cost with the sale of right-of-way property near Pine Knob Elementary School.
RCOC public information officer Craig Bryson said the project came ‘close? to the budgeted amount, with unanticipated overages totalling ‘several hundred thousand dollars on an $11 million project.?
With that came positive reports on the work of contractor Sunset Excavating of Livonia. In addition to the completed paving work, crews got a head start on the street lighting and safety paths, and even some new grass can be seen on the shoulders and in the median.
Promoting smooth traffic flow on Sashabaw are improved lanes and signals at both the Maybee and Waldon intersections. There’s also a new right-turn lane from northbound Sashabaw onto southbound I-75.
‘It’s safer,? Bryson said. ‘One of the big advantages of the boulevard is it eliminates the possibility of head-on collisions and largely reduces the possibility for left turns in front of oncoming traffic.?
RCOC will also add FAST-TRAC ‘intelligent? traffic signals at all three Sashabaw intersections. The system uses advanced vehicle detection devices to determine the amount of traffic present at each moment and to continuously adjust the signal timing to best handle the current traffic load.
The road commission broke down project costs as follows: $6.5 million for construction, $1.3 million for preliminary and construction engineering, $1.6 million for right-of-way acquisition (almost $1 million of which was accomplished by property owners? donation of land), and $1.5 million for force account for a total of $10.9 million.