By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — On Monday, the village council met for their final meeting of the year and approved a bid award for a bridge replacement in the village.
The council approved a contract with JSS-Macomb LLC for the Meek’s Park Pedestrian Bridge Replacement Project. The cost of the project rounds out to about $109,513.
The village has allocated $30,136 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for this project, while Orion Township has committed an additional $39,000 of its CDBG funds.
The Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority is expected to pay the remaining amount owed from funds it has been setting aside for several years for park improvements, according to council members. The DDA will likely contribute more than $40,000 toward the bridge replacement project.
While the contract was awarded, the timeline for the project has yet to be announced.
In August 2020, the village purchased a pedestrian bridge from Independence Township for $20,000. The deal included the bridge, two approaches, the concrete footings and delivery, former village Manager Joe Young said at the time.
The village had planned to install the bridge that fall but instead it has been sitting on the bank of Paint Creek next to the bridge and near a residential street for more than two years.
The plan now involves using the two approaches on each bank and then constructing a new bridge section between them in middle, which would be about 10-15 feet, said Council Member Michael Lamb, who is a civil engineer and has followed the project.
Village council members and administrators had originally thought they would have to spend $95,000 on replacing the Meeks Park bridge, which connects the park with Washington Street over Paint Creek, according to Review archives on the purchase of the bridge in 2020.
“We weren’t expecting that. It’s going to save a lot of money,” said Young, who found out that the bridge was for sale, after the purchase.
The new bridge will also be wider and address ADA (Americans With Disability Act) requirements.
The remaining portion of the bridge — the longest section — is tentatively planned to replace the bridge over Paint Creek at Children’s Park from the park to the parking lot.