The downtown streetscape work is taking a pause this week to do some work in Lake Orion.
So far, all the trees are planted, the decorative fencing around the trees are installed as well as the benches, bike racks, trash cans, tables and chairs. Most signs are in, including the pedestrian island warning signs.
“We still need to install bollards at Burdick, and place the hanging flowers on the light poles and the flower planters on the sidewalk,” said Michigan Department of Transportation Construction Engineer Brian Travis. “Plus, a handful of miscellaneous punch list items are left to complete. . . Most of the work remaining Downtown won’t require lane closures, so if crews can get in and finish the items above they will do so intermittently.”
There is no date yet for when the detour route (Glaspie Street) will be repaved. It will not be in early May, as it was originally planned. “Once we finalize a date we will get it out there,” Travis said. The project is still on target to finish by early June.
Also, some readers wondered about the new pole erected last week on the west side of M-24, just south of Oakwood Road. Here’s what Travis says of that, “The pole and camera you saw being installed is one of MDOT’s new Environmental Sensor Stations that is part of our Road Weather Information System (RWIS). The sensor collects road and weather data to help us more efficiently maintain the roads with a focus being mainly on winter maintenance.
— James Hanlon