Imlay City, Newark roads to be resurfaced in 2019
LAPEER COUNTY — We’re still in the throes of winter, but road construction season will be underway soon.
In anticipation, the Lapeer County Road Commission is deep into planning multiple proposed projects across the county, including several in the Tri-City area.
Overall, the list is larger than in past year, said Destain Gingell, County Highway Engineer.
“We’ll be doing a considerable amount of work this year. We approved more than $10 million in our 2019 budget for road improvement on primary roads alone,” he said.
One of the longest stretches slated to get resurfaced is Newark Road.
In sections, Newark will be renovated from Clark Rd. in Lapeer Township to Lake Pleasant Road in Attica Township.
Gingell said it’s still to be determined just exactly what kind of paving will be used, although the plan currently is to use a majority of hot mix asphalt.
The last stretch of Imlay City Road is also due to be resurfaced from Dorrow Road to the St. Clair County line at Cade Road.
Lapeer County has been resurfacing the former state highway, old M-21, in segments over the last several years.
In 2017, the county paid contractors to repair the road from the Imlay City limits to Dorrow Road, plus replace the bridge over the Belle River. Gingell said the county plans to have a deck treatment performed on that bridge sometime in 2019.
In 2018, work was centered on an intersection safety project at Dorrow and Brown City roads that including paving Dorrow Road and making it the main connector between Imlay City and Brown City roads.
It’s not certain yet when these projects will begin until the bid process is complete.
In past years, county officials have held off on starting their Imlay City Road projects until after Scotts/Hyponex’s busy spring hauling season was over.
Elsewhere in the Tri-City Times area, the road commission plans to resurface Lum Road between Harrington and Lake Pleasant roads in Arcadia Twp. Various patching is also slated for General Squier Rd. in the Almont/Dryden area.
The county will also undertake other chip-seal projects across the area but those have yet to be identified.
Gingell said they’re currently in talks with township officials regarding projects at the local level.
“This is really just a starting list,” Gingell said.
“We need to find out what our winter maintenance costs will be before we know what projects we can do.”
