VASSAR TWP. — Late last fall, Oak Road, between Brown and Hanes roads, closed.
The reason?
The bridge in the middle of the mile that goes over Gooding Creek.
It remains closed, but might not stay that way for long. The solution is the $196 million set aside in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, a highway infrastructure program that includes a bridge bundling initiative.
The state Senate and House Transportation Committees broke the list of qualified bridges down into three categories – locally owned vehicle bridges closed to traffic, locally owned bridges currently posted or restricted from legal loads, and locally owned vehicle bridges in need of rehabilitation or replacement.
And the Gooding Creek bridge fits the first priority. It was included on a list of 59 bridges around the state that will receive funds from the second phase of the local agency bridge bundle.
Five bridge bundling projects started in March as part of a pilot program to repair 19 bridges under Phase I. The five projects currently range from 38 to 77 percent complete. All of the bridges encompassed by the pilot program will be completed and reopened to traffic within 60 or 90 days from the start of repairs.
This year’s project will repair 19 bridges in serious or critical condition that are owned by local agencies. Each bridge will have its superstructure replaced, which includes full removal and replacement of the bridge deck and supporting beams. Michigan Department of Transportation bridge staff and consultants are doing all the design and construction administration work for the bridge bundling program.
The Vassar Township bridge won’t come until the 2024 round of projects. And it will cost $1.24 million. It is one of 22 projects around the state slated for work that year. Another 27 projects are slated for completion in 2023. One project – the bride on East Ganson Street in Jackson over the Grand River – has no specific repair date.
Twelve of the 59 bridges in phase 2 of the bridge bundle program area slated for removal.
The Oak Road bridge is the only project in Tuscola County to be funded by the bridge bundle.
“We’re making good progress toward our goal of improving 19 local bridges throughout the state this year,” said state transportation director Paul C. Ajegba. “These projects should keep the bridges in service for another 50 years, continuing to connect communities, travelers and businesses. This pilot program will accelerate repairs, streamline construction, spark innovations, and create economies of scale, helping to rebuild Michigan’s infrastructure more efficiently.”
The bridge bundling program, which covers several bridge locations under one contract, streamlines coordination and permitting, increases economies of scale, and improves bridge conditions on local routes around the state. The state is working to expand the approach, already in use on state trunkline projects, to address locally owned bridges.
