A familiar face in the lakes area has been tapped to lead the Oakland County Airport Committee as that panel’s chairman. Oakland County Commissioner John Scott (R-Waterford, West Bloomfield) will now take charge after serving almost six years on the committee. He will continue to assist the committee in its responsibilities related to the county’s airports, which include the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford; the Oakland/Southwest Airport in New Hudson; and the Oakland/Troy Airport [...]

A bipartisan package of bills has been introduced in the state House and Senate to generate more revenue for road construction and maintenance, including a hike in annual vehicle registration fees and a restructuring of the state’s gas tax. The bills come on the heels of a plan unveiled by Gov. Rick Snyder to the state Legislature in October. The bills — 15 introduced in the House and another 15 in the Senate — would [...]

The Oakland County Federal Aid Task Force, the panel that oversees the process of awarding federal transportation dollars to specific road projects in the county, will be holding its annual meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7; but atypical to the task force’s standard procedures, it will not be selecting any future road projects for funding due to the U.S. Congress’ inability to pass a federal highway transportation funding bill. The task force’s Funding Committee typically meets each [...]

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) recently awarded federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) grants for eight projects in seven Michigan counties, including one for the West Bloomfield Trail amounting to over $600,000. Each project will consist of bicycle paths and paved shoulders for bicyclists and pedestrians while facilitating streetscape improvements to four downtown areas, improving business districts by enhancing safety, walkability, aesthetics, and community and economic development, MDOT said in a news release. The Road Commission [...]

Eric Wilson will serve another one-year term as Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) board chairman, and Greg Jamian will serve another term as vice-chairman after being reappointed to those positions during the Oakland County Board of Road Commissioners meeting held on Thursday, Jan. 12. The third road board member is Ron Fowkes. Wilson has served on the RCOC board since 2007. A resident of Orion Township, he is an attorney in private practice. Prior [...]

Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Managing Director Dennis Kolar has named Gary Piotrowicz as the agency’s new deputy managing director/county highway engineer. “I am very pleased to announce Gary’s promotion to the deputy managing director/county highway engineer position,” Kolar said. “Gary is well known and highly respected in Oakland County and brings an ideal tool set to the position.” Piotrowicz said he is excited to begin his new role. “I’m looking forward to being [...]

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) is in the process of mailing out letters to municipalities urging them to use their banked Tri-Party Program funding. In effect since 1989, the Tri-Party program allows local communities to decide the nature of annual road improvement projects to be funded equally by the RCOC, a participating municipality, and the county. Such projects usually involve small-scale work, such as widening intersections, adding turn lanes and widening roads. Money [...]

Attempts to map out mass transit throughout the metro Detroit area seems to be losing momentum and changing direction especially since last month Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Gov. Rick Snyder and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood agreed to scrap the $528 million M1 Rail project — a proposed light-rail system along Woodward from downtown Detroit to the city limits at Eight Mile Road — in favor of a regional rapid-transit bus system. Yet to determine [...]

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has named Dennis G. Kolar the agency’s new managing director now that Brent Bair is set to retire from that post on Thursday, Dec. 29. Kolar, who previously served as the road commission’s deputy managing director/county highway engineer, was appointed to the managing director’s position on Thursday, Dec. 15 by the Board of Road Commissioners. He will officially start the new position on Jan. 1. “This is a [...]

As part of a revised lawsuit settlement between the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) and local attorney Richard Bernstein, there may be more installations of High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) beacons at roundabouts in the Northwestern Connector project area in West Bloomfield Township and Farmington Hills. The agreement, announced Thursday, Dec. 15, is intended to enhance safety roundabout pedestrian crossings, including for blind or otherwise disabled individuals. It’s based on a study recently completed by [...]