M-99 construction complete
Joy Pavelski
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
All four lanes of Michigan-99 in downtown Hillsdale are open for traffic after construction workers painted final pavement markings in grooves on the road last Wednesday.
The construction crew removed the long lines of orange construction cones which closed lanes and redirected Hillsdale traffic this summer and fall.
"Number one, everyone seems calmer on the road," said senior Javonne Padgett, who lives on North Broad Street.
"Walking places has been a lot easier. It looks a lot better. Aesthetics always help me cope. The streets are beautiful and wide and everyone's driving where they need to be, not with this huge line of traffic trying to squeeze into two lanes."
Traffic at several intersections, such as between Hillsdale Street and Carleton Road or North West Street and Carleton Road, often stretched into other intersections during red lights because of lane closures.
Now that the roads are comparatively clear, construction workers will complete minor repairs and adjustments along the roadway before they go home for the winter.
"There still will be occasional single-lane closures and traffic will be hampered while that is completed, but the majority of the inconvenience of traffic will be done today," said Michigan Department of Transportation Delivery Engineer Jeff Bigelow last Wednesday. "We'll probably be around town tying up these loose ends for another week or two."
Workers will finish the project's leftover pieces by finishing the decorative brick pavement downtown, completing a section of sidewalk near the courthouse, and rebuilding a retaining wall in front of the Century 21 Action Associates real estate office at the north end of the road construction.
Bigelow said rain delayed construction several times.
"A lot of the work that we did this summer, the earth work underneath the pavement and the sewer, the rain doesn't hurt a lot," he said. "But when you get onto pavement, rain can cause delays. And when you get this late in the year, these contractors and subcontractors have projects all over the state they're trying to finish up. Our original contractual completion date was Oct. 20. We're basically done today, ten days late, and we're pretty happy."
Some owners and patrons of downtown businesses said that the construction impeded foot traffic and sales, recording a few complaints in City Council meetings and in conversations about town.
"Businesses survive and thrive or fail and struggle for numerous reasons," said the city of Hillsdale's Economic Director Jay Bahr. "Generally, I don't think it's possible to pin a business' success or failure on a single road project."
Rick Roth, owner of Century 21 Action Associates, said he has seen a change in business patterns during construction.
"I've noticed it mainly in interest from commercial rental space and vacancies along [M-99]," he said. "Since the construction is nearing an end, we have noticed that that has picked up as well. My business is more a destination, not an inflow business, so I can't say it's hindered us that much, but gas stations and restaurants have probably had a tough year with the construction."
Rebuilding the cement and stone wall near the Century 21 office was not originally in the construction plans, but, during construction on sewer pipes near the wall, workers became concerned the structure was unstable. Engineers decided, after seeing the wall shift during construction, that it had to be removed and replaced.
"The construction crew has done an exceptional job of keeping businesses informed," Roth said.
"I think they went above and beyond to keep things going as smoothly as possible. Even so, we've had to change routes in and out of the office, and agents have had to reroute customers at different times because of rerouting the traffic. We'll be glad it's finished."
Next summer, the city will plant flowers and trees and install benches, trash containers and a water fountain downtown to continue updating the business district.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
The construction crew removed the long lines of orange construction cones which closed lanes and redirected Hillsdale traffic this summer and fall.
"Number one, everyone seems calmer on the road," said senior Javonne Padgett, who lives on North Broad Street.
"Walking places has been a lot easier. It looks a lot better. Aesthetics always help me cope. The streets are beautiful and wide and everyone's driving where they need to be, not with this huge line of traffic trying to squeeze into two lanes."
Traffic at several intersections, such as between Hillsdale Street and Carleton Road or North West Street and Carleton Road, often stretched into other intersections during red lights because of lane closures.
Now that the roads are comparatively clear, construction workers will complete minor repairs and adjustments along the roadway before they go home for the winter.
"There still will be occasional single-lane closures and traffic will be hampered while that is completed, but the majority of the inconvenience of traffic will be done today," said Michigan Department of Transportation Delivery Engineer Jeff Bigelow last Wednesday. "We'll probably be around town tying up these loose ends for another week or two."
Workers will finish the project's leftover pieces by finishing the decorative brick pavement downtown, completing a section of sidewalk near the courthouse, and rebuilding a retaining wall in front of the Century 21 Action Associates real estate office at the north end of the road construction.
Bigelow said rain delayed construction several times.
"A lot of the work that we did this summer, the earth work underneath the pavement and the sewer, the rain doesn't hurt a lot," he said. "But when you get onto pavement, rain can cause delays. And when you get this late in the year, these contractors and subcontractors have projects all over the state they're trying to finish up. Our original contractual completion date was Oct. 20. We're basically done today, ten days late, and we're pretty happy."
Some owners and patrons of downtown businesses said that the construction impeded foot traffic and sales, recording a few complaints in City Council meetings and in conversations about town.
"Businesses survive and thrive or fail and struggle for numerous reasons," said the city of Hillsdale's Economic Director Jay Bahr. "Generally, I don't think it's possible to pin a business' success or failure on a single road project."
Rick Roth, owner of Century 21 Action Associates, said he has seen a change in business patterns during construction.
"I've noticed it mainly in interest from commercial rental space and vacancies along [M-99]," he said. "Since the construction is nearing an end, we have noticed that that has picked up as well. My business is more a destination, not an inflow business, so I can't say it's hindered us that much, but gas stations and restaurants have probably had a tough year with the construction."
Rebuilding the cement and stone wall near the Century 21 office was not originally in the construction plans, but, during construction on sewer pipes near the wall, workers became concerned the structure was unstable. Engineers decided, after seeing the wall shift during construction, that it had to be removed and replaced.
"The construction crew has done an exceptional job of keeping businesses informed," Roth said.
"I think they went above and beyond to keep things going as smoothly as possible. Even so, we've had to change routes in and out of the office, and agents have had to reroute customers at different times because of rerouting the traffic. We'll be glad it's finished."
Next summer, the city will plant flowers and trees and install benches, trash containers and a water fountain downtown to continue updating the business district.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2007
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