Gretchen Whitmer for Governor: Whitmer Announces Three Rebuilding Our Bridges Projects Starting This Month

From July 1, 2022 

 Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that three major bridge repair projects are starting this month as part of her Rebuilding Our Bridges program. The bridges include Dennis Road at Doan Creek in Ingham County, Palms Road at Belle River in St. Clair County, and 26 Mile Road at North Branch Clinton River in Macomb County. 

“Together, we are moving dirt to fix roads and bridges across Michigan to keep drivers safe and save them time and money," said Governor Whitmer. "Since I took office through the end of this year, Michigan has fixed over 16,000 lane miles of road and 1,200 bridges, supporting nearly 89,000 jobs. Now, as construction season kicks into high gear, we have completed six bridge projects, with the latest completed two weeks ahead of schedule. We are setting up orange cones at record pace as we make the largest investment in state roads and bridges in Michigan's history thanks to the bipartisan Building Michigan Together Plan and my Rebuilding Our Bridges program. Let's keep fixing our roads with the right mix and materials, so they stay fixed, and support good-paying jobs along the way to power our economy to new highs."

Rebuilding Our Bridges projects starting this month:                                                                                                                                                 

The Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) Rebuilding Our Bridges pilot program, the first of its kind in Michigan, will repair 19 bridges owned by local agencies in serious or critical condition. Each bridge will have its superstructure replaced, which includes full removal and replacement of the bridge deck and supporting beams.

MDOT expects bridge bundling, which covers several bridge locations under one contract, to streamline coordination and permitting, increase economies of scale, and improve bridge conditions on local routes around the state. MDOT is working to expand the approach, already in use on state trunkline projects, to address locally owned bridges.

“The bridge bundling program was a great resource for the road commission as it strives for a sustainable balance of bridge replacement, improvements and preventive maintenance to limit the number of bridges that slip into poor, serious or critical condition,” said Adam Newton, project engineer for the Macomb County Department of Roads (MCDR). “Having a few of the bridge superstructures that are in critical condition replaced within the bridge bundle pilot project has given the MCDR an opportunity to focus on implementing a mix of fixes for the remainder of our bridge inventory with traditional resources and funding.” 

Macomb County has three bridges, including 26 Mile Road, in the pilot program.

Bridges currently under construction:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Completed Rebuilding Our Bridges projects: 

$196 million in federal COVID relief funds appropriated by Governor Whitmer and the legislature will allow the state to execute Phase II of the bridge bundling program, beginning later this year, to fix 59 more bridges. 

A list of the Phase II bridges, which were prioritized based on regional mobility and safety, is available here. Phase II focuses on closed and load-posted bridges. Some will be permanently removed while others will be fully replaced. 

 Original source can be found here.