DEXTER, MI - A major roadway in Dexter is set to get a facelift through a resurfacing project set to begin this summer.
Dexter leaders OK’d up to $844,250 on a bid, inclusive of a 10% contingency, for the reconstruction of the east and west ends of Dan Hoey Road, as well as a number of pedestrian and drainage improvements elsewhere in the city on Monday, March 27.
The project on Dan Hoey between Dexter-Ann Arbor and Baker roads is set to get underway after school lets out for the year and be completed before students come back in the fall, City Manager Justin Breyer said on Monday.
Crews with Cadillac Asphalt, the contractor selected for the project, will remove the top 3.5 inches of asphalt from sections of the road on either end of Dan Hoey. The middle section, reconstructed as part of a schools project several years ago, will receive a fog seal, according to city documents.
The road work will involve a full closure of westbound Dan Hoey between Dexter-Ann Arbor and Baker roads, city engineering records state.
Some 700 feet of sidewalk also will be installed between Bishop Circle and Avalon Housing’s Hilltop View Apartments complex, where a new pedestrian crossing with flashing beacons will also be put in.
Read more: Once-controversial Dexter housing project set to welcome first tenants
City officials decided to combine the Dan Hoey project with several other road improvement initiatives to make them easier to bid, Breyer said.
One is the resurfacing of Lexington Drive between Dan Hoey and Dexter-Ann Arbor roads, which involves the removal and replacement of 2 inches of asphalt and replacement of non-ADA accessible sidewalk and drive crossings on the west side of the road.
That project will involve a through-traffic closure of Lexington Drive, according to city documents.
Crews will also be conducting driveway, curb and gutter repair work in parts of the Huron Farms subdivision as part of the overall project.
The final piece of the road construction effort is the replacement of the concrete sidewalk crossing on Ann Arbor Street at Edison Street in Dexter.
Construction unrelated to to Dan Hoey Road is permitted to begin in May, engineering documents state, with the resurfacing on that roadway set for after school ends in June.
The bid for the work came in at $767,550, slightly less than expected, officials said. City Council approved the bid with a 10% contingency, up to $844,250, as well as an $113,400 contract for construction engineering and oversight with OHM Adivsors.
City Council voted 5-1, with Council Member Wa-Louisa Hubbard absent and Council Member Zach Michels opposed, to OK the construction bid and engineering costs.
Michels said his opposition had to do with not wanting to wait 15-20 years, the life of the replacement asphalt, to cut out the superelevation on Dan Hoey Road, a design feature providing a slope to the road. The superelevation is comparable to interstate highways, designed to accommodate high speeds, and leads to drivers feeling more comfortable going really fast on the roadway, Michels said.
The contractor has a 23-week construction window for the project as a whole, but they are not expected to take that entire time, engineering documents state.
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