Visitors to Leelanau County this week have timed road construction just right.

They should not run into construction-related delays as most projects will be completed Monday, July 1 - a relief to motorists who have grown accustomed this spring and early summer to delays in commutes to Traverse City.

A $1.5 million concrete joint repair being on M-22 between Lakeview Hills Road and Suttons Bay has caused the most havoc for drivers. Rise Rasch, director of the Traverse City office for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said the contract calls for work to be substantially completed by the end of last week.

But, Rasch said there have been some problems with the repair work and the contractor, the Snowden company based in the Upper Peninsula, has had to revisit some parts of the job.

“We’ve been on site with the workers and I can tell you they are working as fast as they can to get this done by Friday (June 29),” she said.

While problems with the repair work have put the project slightly behind schedule, Rasch said the contractor would not be penalized because the delay would not be directly its fault. “If the contractor couldn’t begin because he didn’t schedule right, or didn’t put adequate supplies or workers to the job, then they would get penalized,” she said.

Rasch said if the M-22 joint repair work is not done by Monday, work on all state road projects will stop at noon on Tuesday, July 3, and can not restart until 6 a.m., Thursday July 5.

The county Road Commission has completed work on streets in Leland and Lake Leelanau and manager Herb Cradduck said no new projects will be started before July 4.

A base course of asphalt is down over most of the $1.2 million federal aid project to resurface County Road 616 from Burdickville Road to 669, and 669 from 616 to Ryant Road.

Cradduck said the top course of asphalt will be applied after July 4.

Some time during the week after July 4 commission workers are scheduled to work on 669 from M-22 south to Hlavka Road. All work on 669 and 616 will be done by the end of July.

Commission workers have started prep work to realign the Overlook Road intersection with M-22 in Leelanau Township. The Road Commission agreed to relocate the existing Overlook/M-22 intersection about 150 feet south as requested by the developers of the proposed Timber Shores project. NM Investments, Inc., will be paying for the project, but major work on the relocation will not start until after July 4.

Commission engineer James C. Johnson announced last week that traffic will be allowed on Co. Rd. 633 between Bingham Road and Lakeview Hills Rd. over the July 4 holiday week. L.W. Lamb, Inc., general contractor which will replace the existing railroad trestle bridge over 633, had hoped to complete work before July 4. Delays from suppliers, however, have put the project behind schedule.

Traffic will be allowed through the trestle area, but a posted 25 mph speed limit through the construction zone will be strictly enforced. The $212,000 project will replace the existing steel structure with a wooden one requiring a less sizable support system.