With some three dozen road projects in the works and ongoing maintenance this construction season, Macomb County officials are reminding motorists to drive slower and more carefully in work zones.

County Executive Mark Hackel and county Roads Department Director Bryan Santo, donned in worker-safety vests, gathered Monday at 15 Mile and Kelly roads in Fraser, site of an ongoing project, to urge drivers to pay attention and travel safely in those work-zone areas that are highlighted by orange barrels and signs.

“There’s going to be a lot of construction,” said Hackel. “The No. 1 concern we have besides fixing the roads is making sure these workers are safe. … It’s about lives. That’s what we’re talking about here, making sure the way you drive you can keep them alive.”

Hackel and Santos mentioned the September 2020 crash on Interstate 94 that killed county road worker Zachery Morisette, 26, of Clinton Township, who was making an “emergency service repair call” to the freeway.

Santos appeared to choke up when discussing it.

“Due to conditions outside his control, he was lost that day,” he said. “It was very tough for the department, very tough for the county. So we’re here today to promote safetiness and awareness through our work zones so we don’t have this happen again.”

Hackel, the former county sheriff, said drivers need to avoid distracted driving “because in a construction zone it becomes even more problematic.”

Also, slow down, he said, as the speed limit is typically reduced by 10 mph in a work zone.

“The faster you go, the bigger challenge it is if you need to stop or need to react,” he said. “There’s a reason why they reduce speeds because we know speed can add or lead to people dying” due to the inability to stop in time.

When approaching a construction zone, he advised motorists to merge “ahead of time.”

“Cutting in” at the last moment not only increases danger to road workers but also “agitates other drivers,” he said. “That’s the last thing we want, agitated drivers in these construction zones. Be patient. Be tolerant. Get over sooner than later so you’re not causing these problems.”

Road construction in the county and throughout the state has increased in recent years and will continue for a couple of more years. The Michigan Department of Transportation this year is spending the last $700 million of $3.5 billion that the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer administration bonded for in 2019 to pay for highway reconstruction projects after the Legislature failed to pass any part of a 45-cent-per-gallon fuel tax increase proposed by Whitmer.

That money is slated to run out in two years and with the state in debt to pay off those loans, road funds will be woefully short by up to $3.9 billion, Public Sector Consultants reported in a Detroit News story published in March.

Hackel said lawmakers are “not being honest with the public” about future road funding and need to “pick a solution so we can get ahead.”

“We can fix every road and bridge if we have the funding,” he said.

Road-construction workers perform a task Monday at Kelly Road and 15 Mile Road in Fraser.JAMESON COOK — THE MACOMB DAILY

A complicated tax increase proposal that partially would have gone to roads under the GOP Gov. Rick Snyder administration was shot down by voters in May 2015 but later that year Snyder signed into law a $1.2-billion road funding package that increased fuel taxes and registration fees along with $600 million from the general fund.

In Macomb County, while the huge Innovate Mound project from Interstate 696 to Hall Road in Warren and Sterling Heights will be finalized this summer, Hackel said the county will be seeking federal funding to fund Mound reconstruction south of I-696 in Warren as well as reconstruction of the Metropolitan Parkway bridge between Van Dyke and Mound.

Even with a slew of projects in the works, Santo noted the county’s road needs have increased from $2.3 billion in 2020 to $2.5 billion this year.

Innovate Mound, the most expensive road project in county history at $220 million, is 90% complete, with all of the motorized paving done. Finishing touches this spring and early summer include replacement of the Bear Creek culvert, construction of an 8-foot-wide path between 15 and 18 mile road, installation of permanent pavement markings, landscaping including grass, shrubs and trees, and equipment installing and testing of the intelligent transportation network.

“It’ll look spiffy,” Santo said.

This year also will see completion of a rare new roadway. The $8.3-million extension of Garfield Road from 22 to 25 mile roads will be finished this year, Santo said. The first phase from 22 to 23 mile road was completed last year, and this year workers will not only install new pavement but complete drainage ditches, install traffic light, modify utilities and restoration work.

Santo called it an important new north-south road that will provide a good alternative to motorists when Romeo Plank is widened in the coming years.

The last new road in the county was the completion of Dalcoma between Hall and 19 mile roads several years ago.

Other major projects include:

Garfield Road reconstruction between 14 and 15 mile roads, that includes widening from two to three lanes to add a left-turn lane and deceleration lanes, culvert replacement over the Harrington Drain and pedestrian-safety enhancements. Cost: $5.5 million.
Completion this summer of the rebuild of Kelly Road from 14 to 15 mile roads in Fraser that was started last year, at a total cost of $5.2 million. Kelly from 15 Mile to Nunneley will be rehabilitated at an additional cost of $1.6 million.
Rehabilitation of more than two miles of Moravian Drive from Garfield to Schoenherr roads in Clinton Township and Sterling Heights. It will include mill and removal of existing surfaces, base repair work, curb and gutter replacement, culvert work, new drive approaches, new asphalt paving and the filling of gaps in sidewalks. Cost: $4.7 million.
Reconstruction of 23 Mile Road from the CN railroad tracks to Gratiot Avenue, costing $4 million.
Replacement of the Washington Road Bridge over the Salt River in Chesterfield Township with a $4-million price tag.
Rehabilitation of 18 Mile Road from Hayes to Garfield at a cost of $3.5 million.
Asphalt and concrete replacement programs at multiple locations throughout the county at a cost of $6 million.

Motorists drive south on old pavement of Kelly Road south of 15 Mile Road on Monday as the northbound lane gets replaced.JAMESON COOK — THE MACOMB DAILY