Parking lot paving expected to cost nearly $220,000

An article by Angela Niemi    2 Comments

Engineers from Giffels-Webster have provided Commerce Township officials with a preliminary estimate that pegs the cost of paving the parking lot at Dodge Park No. 5 at $219,242.

The parking lot currently consists of gravel, a composition that was used to save money, according to Commerce Township Supervisor Tom Zoner. However, since then the board has had to reconsider.

“Initially, it was a nice parking lot, but we have to some extent people who don’t participate in the ethics of driving properly on the gravel. So it’s become a maintenance problem,” he explained.

The park is located about a half mile in from Commerce Road just east of South Commerce Road.

Per the park’s master plan, only the driveway entrance off of South Commerce Road will be paved, in addition to the parking lot. The project is expected to be funded by millage revenue as part of an improvement plan.

Commerce officials started accepting bids for the project on Friday, March 25.

Also as part of the project, Commerce would trim the dead brush under trees to provide clear vision from South Commerce Road so as to stop some vandalism issues the park has been experiencing.

“We have people driving off road and through the soccer fields,” Zoner said. “We also have vandalism once in a while with people doing circles (with their vehicles) in the parking lot, and that makes it hard for us to grate the gravel and sweep stones off areas designed for walking paths.”