Will help repairs last longer while waiting for potential TIP funding
By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD — The Oxford Village Council voted 5-0 to approve an increased scope of work for the East Burdick Street repair project during a meeting on Oct. 8.
The increased scope brings the project from about $170,000 to an estimated $200,000, according to village documents. The increase will be charged to the village’s major streets capital improvement fund.
Originally, the project’s scope of work was based in part on the village hoping to receive federal funds in an upcoming Oakland Country Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for 2028 and 2029, according to a memorandum written by village Manager Joe Madore.
Since the project was approved, Madore said “We are several projects down from where the money runs out on the county TIP plan. And so, we’re definitely not assured of any funds coming our way in (the) 2028-29 season.”
While the village can apply again in the next few years, Madore said the length of the stretch of street to be repaired and the TIP scoring method will make it hard for the village to score enough points to “get up in that county TIP.”
“So, I thought ‘well, if we knew we were going to get the TIP funding in (2028 and 2029) and redo this road from Glaspie (Street) all the way to (M-24) then the modest improvements and repairs we’re doing now would be fine because we’re going to be back in three to four years,’” Madore said. “Knowing that we’re not in that for sure and would be potentially further out now, if it could even be possible to get another TIP, we thought ‘well, let’s do at least some of these crack repairs a little bit wider, a little deeper.”
Widening the crack repairs from two feet to four feet wide will allow the road to be compacted with a roller instead of a hand packer, according to the memorandum, creating a subsurface that is more stable and patchwork that will last longer. Repair seams will also be covered with a two-inch mill to prolong the paved area by keeping water out of the seams.
A five-to-six-inch wide sinkhole was also discovered in the street’s eastbound lane. Madore said the department of public works (DPW) investigated the hole, and found that when water-service lines were bored in the late 1990s, the top of a storm drain was also bored through. Over time, this collapsed into the sinkhole that was discovered.
DPW repaired the sinkhole and protected the service lines on Oct. 7, in time for the surface work to take place, according to Madore.
Village Council President Kelsey Cooke said spending the additional funds “to do it right” will be a good investment for the road.
Madore said the roughly $200,000 also includes the Oxford United Methodist Church parking lot paving project, and that the increased cost will not impact any future projects that he is aware of.
The street’s east-bound lane is being left open, according to Madore.
For more information on the projects read the article “Oxford Village Council approves two repair projects” on oxfordleader.com.