By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
It has been a long construction season for M-24 in Oxford and Lake Orion. Finally, work is all but finished for this year. Crews might be on the roads touching things up the next few days, but northbound traffic has been restored since Friday, Dec. 4.
Northbound traffic no longer needs to take the Drahner-Glaspie-Ray Rd. detour route. At least one lane is open in both directions between Drahner Rd. and Gateway Dr. Left lane closures may continue through this week as work finishes up. All four lanes of traffic should be open by the end of the week.
Over the last few days, crews have been finishing the decorative brickwork downtown, making temporary pavement markings for the winter, cleaning the new drainage structures, adjusting traffic signals and installing permanent signs.
“Then it’s just a matter of, usually the last thing that happens before the winter is just trying to pick up barrels and signs and stuff,” said MDOT Construction Engineer Brain Travis. “So, I anticipate that will be the last thing that people see.”
Overall, Travis thinks the project “went about as good as it could. We had a lot of hiccups early on when we were working on northbound through Oxford with utilities. And that did slow us down. But the sanitary sewer went in really well. The paving went well.”
Travis pointed out that “this was a lot of work to do in a single season. I don’t know if the public realizes that, but there were talks about making this a two-year project, or splitting up the project (the Orion and Oxford portions), but we went for it all, and I think we’re as good as we can be at this point. So, I think it went well.”
Oxford Township Engineer Jim Sharpe said that “although it was a significant inconvenience to both motorists and businesses, the Drahner – Glaspie – Ray Road detour allowed the project to be completed in one year as opposed to stretching it into a two year project.”
The Michigan Department of Transportation invested $33 million to reconstruct and resurface 4.7 miles of the Michigan State Highway 24 between Goldengate St. in Orion Township and Harriet St. in Oxford Township this year. The portion from Drahner to Harriet involved a full reconstruction. The last time this part of M-24 was completely rebuilt was nearly 100 years ago, making this a rare opportunity to redevelop the thoroughfare.
The project improved the pavement surface, adjusted lane widths, consolidated driveways, upgraded utility and drainage structures, and replaced curbs, gutters and sidewalks. It also extended the center-left turn lane in front of Oxford Maketplace to Drahner Rd. “Like myself, I know that there are many people that will drive a little easier in this area knowing that we don’t have to continuously look in the rear view mirror when making a left turn into the businesses along this stretch of road,” Sharpe said.
Oxford Township and Village took advantage of the opportunity to tie-in some improvements of their own.
As part of the project, the township added 7,400 feet of 18-inch diameter sanitary sewer line along M-24 between Oakdell Rd., south of the village, to Gateway Dr., north of the village. “This sewer prepares the Township for growth along the M-24 corridor for decades to come,” Sharpe said.
Additionally, 2,000 feet of 12-inch diameter water main was installed between Drahner and Oakdell. According to Sharpe, this completed an important loop along M-24 and will provide both commercial water service and fire protection capabilities to this area. “Kudos should be given to Township Supervisor Jack Curtis, as chairman of the Township’s Water-Sewer Committee, for strongly promoting these two projects.”
The Township also received around two miles of safety path improvements, most notably new eight-foot-wide paths on each side of M-24 from Drahner to Minnetonka Dr., connecting to the existing sidewalk at the village limits, and on the west side of M-24 from Teelin Dr. to Indian Lake Rd. “(Township) Treasurer (Joe) Ferrari, as Chairman of the Township’s Safety Path Committee, deserves the safety path accolades after many years of discussions and wrangling with MDOT,” Sharpe said.
The village added a new streetscape design to the historic downtown area. MDOT is contributing nearly $1.2 million to the Streetscape Improvement project through construction credits and a state Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant. To obtain the grant, the village agreed to match $259,000 for the project. The village and the Downtown Development Authority also contributed an additional $658,000 for a total investment of $2.1 million. The village made these contributions debt-free with money that had been set aside the last few years.
Various improvements are designed to enhance the area aesthetically, reduce noise levels, and make the downtown safer for pedestrians.
New and refurbished street lights and new street trees (to be planted in the spring) run the entire length of the village, from the northern border to the southern border. New furnishings and a smoother road bed are expected to absorb and lessen the impact of the noise generated by M-24 traffic downtown, particularly the large trucks.
A new feature folks should be aware of when driving downtown this winter are the three “pedestrian refuges.” These cement islands in the median are designed to slow traffic and give pedestrians extra places to cross the highway. Although they will be marked with signs, motorists should exercise caution, as they may be difficult to see if snow is present and folks are not used to them.
(The three refuges are located at the Dennison/Stanton/M-24 intersection, a mid-block crossing between Centennial Park on the west side of M-24 and the pedestrian alleyway adjacent to the Acheson building on the east side, and one north of Burdick St. where M-24 and East St. meet.)
Narrower lanes encourage through-traffic to slow down, while on-street parking, wider sidewalks with decorative brickwork, benches, and wayfinding signage are meant to make the downtown more pedestrian and shopper friendly. Much of the landscaping and streetscape work will be finished in the spring of 2021.
“Personally, I think the project is a big win for the Oxford community and am hopeful that the enhancements will draw more attention to the great businesses and surroundings that Oxford has to offer,” Sharpe said.
The project, which began April 23, was originally scheduled to finish Nov. 15, but was rescheduled to finish in “early December” due to delays caused by encountering unexpected utilities while installing storm sewer.
“We’re all happy to see it open,” Supervisor Curtis said on Friday. “We anticipate the final application of landscaping in the spring and hopefully people will start noticing our businesses, and this Covid disaster goes away so our local businesses can now be seen and used again. It was great to work with Brian Travis at MDOT responding to all the township’s requests for assistance and I’m very, very delighted that the completion is today.”
Surprisingly, Travis said the pandemic did not significantly impact the project. “We were lucky in the fact that our contractor (Dan’s Excavating, Inc.) was still able to provide all the crews and the subcontractors and suppliers that they needed to. It was a factor on some jobs, but I would say it wasn’t on this job. In fact, having less traffic helped us in the beginning.”
Since it has been nearly a century since the historic road has been excavated, they were expecting to dig up some interesting artifacts. In July, they found a beehive-shaped redbrick storm drain, thought to be from the 1920s, in front of the Oxford Tap. The hefty artifact was put on display in Weigh Station Park, a rest area along the Polly Ann Trail. A pair of horse shoes were also found, but that was about it. “We were a little disappointed,” Travis said.

Spring streetscape work
Crews will be back in the spring to finish up the streetscape and landscape work downtown. They will also repave the detour route and make permanent pavement markings.
The dates are still being worked out, but April 15 is when seasonal limitations are lifted and projects typically start. “We’re thinking mid-April, and about a month,” Travis said. “So mid-April to mid-May.”
There may be single-lane closures, potentially in each direction, but there will be no need for a detour route. Traffic will also be maintained on the old Drahner-Glaspie-Ray detour route even as it is repaved. “That will probably be a week’s worth of work,” Travis said.
The work done this year between Goldengate St. in Lake Orion to Harriet St. in Oxford was phase two of MDOT’s M-24 Corridor Improvement Plan. Phase one, from Harmon Rd. in Auburn Hills to Golden Gate St. in Lake Orion, was completed in 2016. A future phase three will continue from Harriet St. to Davison Lake Rd., the northern border of Oxford Township and Oakland County.
Designs for this “shelf project” are about 75 percent finished, according to MDOT Project Manager Dave Harrison. No project dates have been determined yet. “It could be 4-6 years out, depending on when funding becomes available,” Harrison said.
The project would be similar to the rehab work done in Orion this year, not as intense as the work in Oxford north of Drahner. “Mostly resurfacing, some improvements, but it’s not a complete reconstruction.”

  m-24