Nearly $30M road project coming to West Bloomfield

An article by Michael Shelton    3 Comments

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees voted Monday, June 27 to approve a proposal from the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) to have a roundabout constructed at Orchard Lake and 14 Mile roads and a four-lane boulevard constructed along Orchard Lake Road from 14 Mile Road to Maple Road.

The board’s approval was a major step in negotiations between the township and the RCOC since late 2008.

According to the proposal, the total cost of the project would be $29.7 million, with $21.9 million being covered by federal and state funding.

A $3.9 million match from the township would be required, as well as a $3.9 million match by the RCOC.

Township Trustee Gene Farber said the next step is for the township’s legal counsel to contact the RCOC and set up a resolution to formally outline the project.

According to the township’s Ad Hoc Roads Committee, the RCOC completed plans for a three-phase $140-million Northwestern Connector Project in 2003, which included plans for turning Orchard Lake Road into a six-lane boulevard. West Bloomfield and the city of Farmington Hills signed on with the RCOC for the project.

However, in November 2008, the RCOC stated that it didn’t have sufficient funds to build the boulevard and planned to drop it from the project scope and move ahead with construction of a Maple Road/Orchard Lake Road roundabout.

That led to what was then the newly-elected township board writing a letter of protest and forming an Ad Hoc Roads Committee, consisting of Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste, Trustee Larry Brown and Township Clerk Catherine Shaughnessy, along with three township residents.

The township then began discussions with the RCOC and in April 2009, the road commission agreed that it would reduce the boulevard design down to four lanes instead of the originally planned six lanes.

The township and the RCOC then butted heads over a conceptual study proposal that was later revised after the township’s road and traffic engineers expressed concerns. The RCOC then expressed concerns over the revision.

On May 3, the road commission refused the township’s request to further revise that plan.

The RCOC then delivered an ultimatum to the township to accept one of three options — either move ahead with a conceptual engineering study, agree to the Orchard Lake/Maple roundabout and the four-lane boulevard, or have the RCOC begin construction of an Orchard Lake/14 Mile roundabout and a four-lane boulevard to an undermined point south and have the township be responsible for its share of the local costs.

“If we didn’t take action, the little money we would have would be spent in Farmington Hills,” Ureste said.

Ureste said construction of a roundabout at Orchard Lake and 14 Mile roads is  slated for 2012.