If London Bridge was falling down, Orion’s Silverbell Road Bridge wasn’t far behind.
But on Monday, Supervisor Matthew Gibb announced what he hailed as ‘huge news.?
The township has received a $4.3 million Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) grant to repair the bridge.
‘It’s 30 years old,? Gibb said, noting the bridge is essential to the operation of the GM Orion Assembly Plant. ‘If you look underneath, the steel, the concrete, the rebar’the whole thing is starting to crack and fail. In the section that’s closed, the rebar has popped loose of the bridge. It’s just kind of hanging there.?
The structure, which runs over the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, about a half-mile west of M-24, has suffered from years of heavy truck passage, Gibb noted.
Last fall, the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) closed two lanes of the bridge and imposed weight limits to restrict commercial and industrial traffic.
With the restrictions in place, RCOC officials say the bridge is safe. For now.
‘We’ll get the project engineered over next three to four months,? Gibb said. ‘Then we’ll put it out for bid, with construction to start early next year, and have replacement completed prior to the reopening of the plant.?
The first cars are tentatively scheduled to roll of the line late in 2011.
The bridge also services local businesses and the Eagle Valley Landfill to the east of the plant.?
Gibb said State Rep. Jim Marleau and U.S. Congressman Gary Peters, along with others, helped secure the funds.
According to a press release issued Friday by Peters? office, without the grant, a lack of funding would likely have held up bridge repairs for years, perhaps as far out as 2013.
‘Choking off Silverbell bridge traffic delays drivers and hurts businesses in north Oakland County,? Peters said via the release. ‘Its quick repair is critical, and will create Oakland County jobs.?
The grant comes from the state’s Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) created, according to MDOT’s website, to assist in the funding of highway, road, and street projects necessary to support economic growth.
TEDF’s 2009 annual report lists 18 projects evaluated and approved for funding last year, representing ‘a public investment of over $12 million.?
Of that $12 million, only $445,000’for a project on Haggerty Road in Farmington Hills’was allocated to Oakland County.