Macomb County secures $2.5 million for Mound Road project

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Macomb County announced Wednesday that it has secured $2.5 million in funding to help finish the Mound Road repair project.

"There was no money to fix this road. There was no real plan to fix the road. We had an idea we knew it needed to be fixed, much like everybody else that was complaining about it," County Executive Mark Hackel said. "We turned to our legislative partners and said, ‘Listen there isn’t a road or a bridge we can’t fix in the entire state of Michigan or across this country if we have the funding.’"

The new money adds to a previous $98 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

"With our planning department and our road department we took a look at this grant, and we made an appeal to the federal government for this infra-grant, and lo and behold a year later we found that we were given the award," Hackel said. 

Once completed, there will be a fourth lane in each direction on Mound from 17 Mile to M-59. According to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office, this will "create a more user-friendly corridor that is safe for motorized vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians."

"I met others that were in Washington D.C. aggressively advocating for the initial 98 million dollars that was provided and that was a big lift," said Sen. Gary Peters, who helped get the extra funding. "With the investment here in Mound Road and they incredible and the incredible work of everybody to make this a reality this road in Macomb County is at the forefront of the most advanced technologies when it comes to the auto industry."

The investment is expected to bring more than 200,000 jobs and support more than 70 major employers that are nearby, including Detroit Arsenal, the General Motors Tech Center, Ford plants, and more.