Expand / Collapse search
☰

Oakland County road commission announces $84 million in 2024 construction projects

By Dave Herndon
Published  April 13, 2024 8:29pm EDT
Oakland County
FOX 2 Detroit

BEVERLY HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has kicked off its 2024 road-construction season, that will include nearly $84 million worth of road-construction projects. 

This year’s RCOC Road Improvement Plan includes road-reconstruction projects, major-resurfacing projects, roundabout construction, bridge-repair-and-replacement projects, culvert-repair-and-replacement projects, the continuation of a two-mile gravel-road-paving project and 46 miles of simple-resurfacing.

"Once again this year, we’re doing everything we can to spread our funding across as many roads as possible, with numerous safety, pavement-condition and bridge and culvert improvement projects," stated RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar. "As always, during construction season, there will be some inconvenience for motorists as we improve the roads, but that short-term pain will result in long-term improvements to the road system," Kolar added.

A few examples of this year’s projects include:

  • The reconstruction of Brown, Giddings and Silver Bell roads from Jamm Road to M-24 (surrounding the GM Orion plant) in Orion Township and Auburn Hills.
  • The major resurfacing of Southfield Road from 11 Mile Road to 12 Mile Road in Lathrup Village.
  • The major resurfacing of Walton Boulevard from Adams Road to Livernois in Rochester Hills.
  • The replacement of the Pontiac Lake Road bridge over the Clinton River in Waterford Twp.
  • The continuation of the gravel-road paving of Waldon Road from Clintonville Road to Baldwin Road in Independence and Orion townships.

The simple resurfacing projects, known as the Preservation Overlay Program, is expected to start the week of April 22. The first roads to be addressed are:

  • Joslyn Road, Brown Road to Waldon Road, in Orion Township
  • Seymour Lake Road, Sashabaw Road to Ortonville Road in Brandon Township.

The Preservation Overlay Program represents a nearly $14 million commitment by RCOC and will result in resurfacing more than 46 miles of roads. The program involves simple resurfacing with two inches of asphalt on roads that are in fair condition. The program provides a smooth, new road surface and extends the life of the road by five to 10 years. 

Preservation overlay projects typically involve minimal road surface milling (grinding off the surface of sections of bad pavement) and applying new asphalt. They are usually completed over about two weeks, and the paving work is weather-dependent. During the work, one lane of the road is closed with flaggers directing traffic. 

All preservation overlay projects are expected to be completed by fall. During the milling and paving operations, residents and businesses can expect minor delays at subdivision and driveway entrances.   

The preservation overlay program schedule is weather-dependent and will evolve during the construction season. For more information on the Preservation Overlay work and locations, visit http://www.rcocweb.org/418/Preservation-Overlays.

For more information on other RCOC construction projects, visit the Road Projects page of the RCOC website, www.rcocweb.org.