McBride residents gather to hear details of upcoming paving project

Monday, June 18, is the anticipated start date of the long-awaited McBride Road paving project and on June 7, about ten neighbors gathered at the Van Buren Township Hall to hear details on what to expect.
The property owners on McBride have a Special Assessment District to help pay for the changing of their gravel road into a smooth asphalt road, in conjunction with a grant from the county and $90,000 from the Van Buren Public Schools. The McBride Middle School is in this residential neighborhood.
They learned their SAD payment would be much less than formerly announced. Ron Akers, VBT director of planning and economic development, said the payments now would be $200 a year for five years, unless they have to dip into the contingency fund. If so, it would be $300 a year for five years.
Present at the meeting were about ten residents and ten township officials, engineers, and the asphalt contractor.
Engineer Dave Nummer of Wade Trim addressed the gathering, introducing Frank Prano of Florence Cement Company of Shelby Township, which will be doing the asphalt paving, and John Hopp, construction engineer of Wade Trim, who will be in charge of the project. Hopp lives in Van Buren Township.
Nummer told the neighbors that Hopp will be on site during the project and any problems or concerns can be brought to him. His cell phone is (313) 363-3483.
Nummer said the anticipated start of June 18 is right after school is out and the project will take five to six weeks, depending on the weather.
“We may get done quicker than that,” Nummer said.
He said first they will excavate about a foot down. The road is flat now and they will put a crown in the road for the water to roll off to the ditches.
They will put 8″ of new limestone base and 4″ of asphalt. It is a good solid road, Nummer said, and there’s a good base even with 12″ removed.
He said there will a 24′ wide track with 1′ paved on each side and 3′ of gravel on each side, for a total of 32′.
He said they have narrowed down the travel lanes because people tend to drive slower on narrower roads.
“People drive as fast as they feel comfortable,” Nummer said. He said instead of becoming a speedway, the narrower road will encourage slower driving.
“Each driver’s tolerance varies,” he noted.
He said another reason they narrowed the roadway is because the cost of the project came down substantially. He said there will be minor ditch work and cleaning, but the ditches already function fairly well.
Nummer said the relocation of mailboxes will have an impact on residents. He said they will put up brand new posts and mount the present boxes on them at the end of the project. If there is a custom mailbox, the owner should get with Hopp as the project gets started and they will be handled on an individual basis.
They will work out temporary mail delivery with the post office and maybe put in a gang box.
He said some water main work will be done, like putting in a fire suppression line and another line will be put in from Beck Road to the school.
“There will be a few days for that and then they’ll begin excavating the road,” Nummer said, adding they will backfill as they go so they will maintain roadway to the driveways through most of the project.
He said there may be a couple of hours when the driveways are inaccessible.
“You’ll see them coming day by day down the road and you can gauge when they will be in front of your house,” Nummer said.
Nummer told the neighbors that if they have a wedding party or a graduation party or some other event, to let them know so they can work around those events and work with the public. In other projects there were scheduled dialysis treatments and they should let Hopp know.
If there are any sprinkler heads along the shoulder, they should mark them and let Hopp know. They’ll do their best not to damage them, Nummer said.
The driveway approaches to the new paved road will be replaced for about 8-12′ with the present driveway surface. If a residence has cement, it will be a cement approach. If it’s asphalt, the approach will be asphalt. If it’s gravel, the approach will be gravel.
The road will be about the same elevation that it is now, he said.
Nummer said to buy the children plastic swords to play with so they don’t pull out the construction stakes and run around with them. The removal of stakes will delay the contractor’s work. He said they do not want children near the work area.
He said Miss Dig is due to come in around June 12 and those flags need to stay in place, as well.
When they spray asphalt tack on the roadway it would be a good day to go to the beach or out to dinner because it shouldn’t be driven on because it’s sticky and messy. When the work layer is put down, they shouldn’t drive on it because it will cause cosmetic damage to the roadway.
The work is expected to take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. New roads are expected to last 20 years, but you have to take Michigan weather into account, he said. The speed limit will remain at 25 mph.
Since trash day is Tuesday on that street, they will try not to pave on Tuesday.
They will be working between the ditches and will not be going up into people’s yards, Nummer said.
A neighbor asked about the VBT fireworks at Beck Ball Field. She said people usually park at McBride school and walk to the ball fields for the show. The fireworks are on Saturday, June 30, with a rain date of Sunday, July 1. The engineers thanked her for alerting them to the situation and said it will not be a problem.
Prano of Florence Cement said everything is scheduled to be delivered on June 18.