Five area bridges may be repaired with federal funds

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has recently submitted five west Oakland County bridge repair projects for federal funding as part of its Local Bridge Program.

“These bridges need repair and replacement,” said RCOC Spokesperson Craig Bryson. “We apply for funding every year (and) there’s no guarantee we get it, but it’s the only source of funding for the Local Bridge Program to conduct replacements and preventative maintenance.”

RCOC engineers identified only one full bridge replacement project in the lakes area, the Hatchery Road bridge over the Clinton River in Waterford Township. That project is estimated at $1.67 million.

The remaining four are preventative maintenance projects. A trio of them are located in Milford over the Huron River — Burns Road, estimated at $68,000; GM Road, estimated at roughly $83,000; and Dawson Road, estimated at $72,000.

The remaining preventative maintenance project would be conducted on Jackson Boulevard over a White Lake canal, estimated at $102,000.

Dollars awarded would not be made available until 2015. However, Bryson said if the bridges were listed in dire condition, they would either be moved up in scheduling despite the lack of funding or other measures would be taken to ensure safety.

“These bridges are inspected on a regular basis,” Bryson said. “If there was an emergency, we would shut a bridge down or obtain an emergency source of funding.”

The RCOC expects to be informed by November on whether it will be the recipient of the funding.