The county Road Commission has plenty of work ahead on county roads as it comes to the half-way point in the construction season.

THE NEW bridge over Co. Rd. 633 in Bingham Township
has been installed, though work continues on
restoring the hillsides.

Manager Herb Cradduck reviewed road improvement and repair projects Tuesday at the bi-monthly Road Commission meeting.

The biggest project remaining is improving and repaving the north end of County Road 669 from M-22 south to Hlavka Road.

Cradduck said a top course of pavement was applied last week by workers with Rieth-Riley Construction on County Road 616 from County Road 675 to County Road 66, and on County Road 669 from County Road 616 to Ryant Road. The 616-669 paving project was federally funded, but the Road Commission will pay to pave the north end of 669.

“It will leave a gap between Ryant and Hlavka roads, something we’ll have to address probably next year,” Cradduck said.

Engineer James C. Johnson said workers with the L.W. Lamb Company finished building the wooden bridge over County Road 633 in Bingham Township last week. Commission personnel will be working to restore hill slopes on both sides of 633 as part of the $212,000 project. The bridgework is being paid through a federal government safety grant administered through the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), with a $28,000 local match coming from the Traverse Area Recreational Trails (TART) Inc., group which owns the Leelanau Trail.

A state project may soon affect Leelanau drivers. MDOT will start crack sealing M-22 between M-204 and Thoreson Road next week. There will be intermittent lane closures so travelers should expect some delays while using the route. Cradduck said the commission will also start crack sealing Bugai Road between M-72 and Fouch Road sometime next week.

Commission personnel have begun realigning the Overlook Road and M-22 intersection in Leelanau Township, adjacent to the proposed Timber Shores development. Work will be paid for by NM Investments, Inc., of Royal Oak, developers of Timber Shores. The north end of Overlook will be relocated about 100 feet south of where it now sits, and will be squared up to M-22.

Cradduck and Johnson said work on Carter Road that was scheduled to begin in August may be delayed as Elmwood Township and the City of Traverse City have not come to an agreement for moving an existing water line.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved 2-1, with member John Popa opposed, a resolution abandoning a 400-foot stretch of Columbus Street in Cedar. The request came from Solon Township as part of its proposed sewer project. Popa said he opposed the project because he believed abandoning the never-built street would land-lock property owned by Virginia Commins. Both chairman Lee A. Bowen and vice-chairman Glen Noonan said that was not true, that Commins property has access to County Road 651 on its western boundary.

• Unanimously accepted roads for the first phase of the Pathways of Suttons Bay development into the county road system, contingent upon receipt of certified engineer drawings of the road and a warranty deed for the 66-foot wide right-of-way.
Developer Tom Darga said his engineer has just about completed the certified drawings and supporting documents showing the road was built to county road specifications. The commission issued a statement saying it would also accept the development’s roads in the second phase assuming they meet the same standard.