By Dennis Volkert
Michigan Department of Transportation’s resurfacing of U.S. 12 in Sturgis is nearing completion.
All major elements are finished. Within the past week, pavement markings were finished.
Among final details is installation of traffic signal loops to return the sequence to standard timing, said Barry Cox, city engineer.
The project got underway May 5, and has involved repaving and upgrades to curb areas, ramps and sidewalks.
Estimated time frame for completion was early- to mid-July. Various challenges during the process forced some adjustments in the deadline, according to both Cox and Nick Shirripa, communications representative at MDOT.
Although the process went “smoothly” overall, Shirripa said, resurfacing may pose unique situations if it occurs in both business and residential settings, a detail that applied in this situation.
“Contractors had to modify schedules to incorporate both day shifts in residential areas and move to the night shift in commercial areas,” Shirripa said.
“There also was some extra coordination needed with contractors, coordinating different contractors to complete some of the ramps, improving the walkable surface and maintaining the surrounding fixed elevations as in building entrances.”
Workflow also required adjustment for holidays (Memorial Day, Independence Day) and Sturgis Fest week, when work was halted temporarily.
“The project obviously went slower than scheduled, but it looks great and should last for a decade or more until the next rehabilitation or treatment,” Cox said.
Cox said MDOT-related projects can create unexpected situations, but usually they are “happy challenges,” since they are working to protect the newest infrastructure on the state highway from additional deterioration.
Cox’s input was requested by MDOT quite often, he said.
“I try to see the issues which will arise during construction before crews get to a specific task,” he said. “Contractors are simply trying to do the work, not necessarily the big picture of what they are doing.”
From the city’s perspective, a majority of hurdles involved reworking public sidewalk ADA ramp installations and sidewalks adjacent to private parking areas on corners where there was significant elevation change, Cox said.
Soon after work began, there was an unexpected issue with sidewalk and elevation change near Open Door Gallery.
“As a group, we determined there were other locations where how it was built could be a problem and the city worked with MDOT’s design engineer to provide a better solution to the other four or five locations which were similar on other parts of the project,” Cox said. “MDOT corrected the issue at Open Door Gallery and provided a better solution for pedestrians. Sometimes, things that look fine on paper don’t end up working as well in the field.”
MDOT also worked to remove brick patterns from the ADA walk ramps, because those no longer are allowed. It created some patchwork areas of brick work at the intersections with an appearance slightly different from the 2006 Chicago Road overhaul.
“The brick-work crews had a difficult job to tie into the existing panels and make it look like it is supposed to look,” Cox said.
City officials made an attempt to keep community members informed of major traffic-flow changes or delays, and updates about crew progress, Cox said. Examples included switching construction work from north side to south side and beginning of the overnight paving restrictions.
“The schedule of activities was constantly mobile and hard to provide good information any more than a day or two in advance,” he said.
