VBT DDA considers repairs, replacement of Belleville Rd.

The Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority wants to find out if the broken cement in Belleville Road between Burger King and the Belleville Bridge is worth repairing, or if it should just be replaced.
At its regular meeting on May 26, which was a virtual Zoom meeting, DDA Executive Director Susan Ireland presented a proposal to cut out sections of the cement roadway in that area for repair and to begin sidewalk repair along Belleville Road between Tyler and the Belleville Bridge.
She also noted that Wayne County said the Huron River Bridge on East Huron River Drive would be replaced starting in November and Belleville Road would be a detour for that project.
She presented proposals of $28,500 for engineering for the road work and $22,000 for engineering for the sidewalk work from Wade-Trim.
It is estimated there will be $1.4 million in capital and engineering costs and there could be one or two separate contracts for the road and sidewalks.
Ireland said the section of roadway was done in the early 1990s by Wayne County with the DDA paying for the installation of sidewalks. No repairs to this portion of the roadway have occurred other than filling potholes. This is a project in the DDA’s Capital Improvement Plan.
In conjunction with this, she recommended the existing Belleville Road sidewalk from Tyler Road to the Belleville bridge be checked for risk hazards and replaced as warranted, as also noted in the Capital Improvement Plan.
“This is a Wayne County Road and Ron Agacinski, who is the Wayne County Director of Engineering, informed that they would be supportive of these projects…” she said.
“It is unknown how many years it would be for Wayne County to properly repair this section of road,” she said. “It is my understanding that the engineering work would not be unreasonably lengthy and it is believed if construction began in August it should be finished in the fall.
“There will be a stipulation in the contract that by a date certain, all work would stop,” she said. “This would be good timing for Wayne County with the Huron River Bridge project that is expected to begin sometime in the fall for the bridge work and road construction in the spring.
“Doing this sooner rather than later will prevent the road from becoming worse by going through another winter season,” Ireland said. “If the DDA waits, it is expected this would be a 2022 project.”
She said she recommends Wade Trim engineers because it is very familiar with VBT and the DDA and it is also Wayne County engineer for the Huron River Bridge project.
Dave Nummer of Wade Trim said he has talked with some of the company’s people that are doing the Huron River Bridge work.
The work on Belleville Road would include flying a drone over the roadway and ADA ramps so they can be inspected closely. The proposal is to cut out panels or half panels for replacement.
He said after getting the details, the plan was to go out for bids in the third week of June with the bids due in mid-July, so there could be approval at the July DDA meeting with work beginning in August and running for 2-2.5 months, ending in the second part of October or first of November.
Nummer’s associate said they won’t use the drone on the sidewalks, but have field engineers walk the sidewalks and look for trip hazards.
It was pointed out there is $250,000 in the budget for sidewalk repair and if more than that needs to be done, it can be bookmarked for another year.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara said this can’t be done if it affects the detour for the bridge.
“Should there be any chance it effects the detour, do it another year,” Supervisor McNamara said.
“No way can you block Belleville Road,” said DDA chairman Craig Atchinson. “There are only two ways into Belleville.”
McNamara said in the spring the county will be doing Huron Township roads.
Nummer said the DDA could terminate the contract at the end of fall and, “have it go away.”
DDA secretary Chris Brown said he was concerned with bidding that late, since all the big companies have bids for the year.
“We’re a smaller operation and we’re tied up for 14 months,” Brown said of his company.
Nummer said some contractors are busy and some aren’t.
“It’s a good project, but maybe we can get it done quicker,” chairman Atchinson said.
Nummer said the detour will cause additional deterioration of the road.
He said they could get the design done and have a special DDA meeting to cut a few weeks off.
Nummer said they would need to get Wayne County permits for both of these projects and make sure the timing accommodates the VBT schedule.
“It’s a project that should happen, but there are time constraints,” Atchinson said.
DDA member Mark Laginess said that area of Belleville Road gets worse every year. It was put in during the early 1990s, he said, asking how long it is supposed to last.
“Should be 30 years, I’m told,” said McNamara.
Nummer said Wayne County does patch jobs like this and then adds two to three inches of overlay asphalt “for the ride.”
“Maybe we should bite the bullet and do a more wholesale replacement of the pavement,” Laginess said.
Nummer said the DDA could improve it now for the detour traffic or let the detour traffic do its damage and then fix it.
“It’s going to get worse,” Laginess said. “Is the patching really worthwhile?”
Brown asked how many square yards of concrete is to be replaced and Nummer’s associate said based on 2,200 square yards they assume 40% of the pavement will be repaired.
Brown said he’s with Laginess. If 40% is to be repaired you have to compare that to 100% cost for full repaving.
“I’d have a concern with 2,200 square yards,” Brown said. “That’s a big number.”
Laginess said then it would have to be replaced in a few years.
Laginess asked if the concrete is ASR and nobody knew.
McNamara said they had the same problem with ASR, mid-1990s concrete, at Metro Airport.
If it’s ASR, it will continue to deteriorate, Brown said.
Nummer said ASR stands for Alkali Silicone Reaction. He said in the 1990s flyash was used as filler in concrete and that is high in alkaline and it reacted causing jello-soft edges that crumbled. It was a defect in the material itself, he said.
McNamara made a motion to have drone plane analysis of how much of the roadway needs to be done and to find out if ASR is in the concrete and the estimated cost to replace the road, probably in 2022. It was seconded by Brown and passed unanimously.
Nummer said if they can determine if the concrete is ASR on site there is no extra cost. If it needs a drill test to determine this, there will be extra cost.
Laginess made a motion to repair the sidewalks as proposed with engineering cost of $22,000. This was seconded by Helen Foster and approved unanimously.
In other business at the 53-minute meeting, the DDA:
• Approved the price quote of Lakefront Window and Cleaning for $3,140 per year, plus $40 per hour for any special requested service, for janitorial service at the DDA building. This includes once-a-week room and restroom cleaning, deeper cleaning once a month and washing exterior windows twice a year. The other quote was from Bam’s Janitorial and it amounted to $20,100 yearly;
• Heard Ireland report that she requested a legal opinion on whether the DDA could provide grants to businesses in the DDA district. Legal counsel said there currently is no mechanism to do so (as of April 20). Nothing has been put in an Executive Order nor is there any expectation that legislation will be introduced that would allow for it, she said;
• Heard Ireland report the winter banners on the light poles have been changed to the new spring banners. Also, the DDA finally has received the replacement parts for the Belleville Road streetlights and they are stored at the VBT garage;
• Heard Assistant Executive Director Lisa Lothringer announce the new outdoor sculptures were selected March 16 and were slated to be installed June 2. She said they are determining whether to print a brochure on the artwork this year or to just increase the social media push instead;
• Heard Lothringer say they were scheduled to have the billboard on I-275 begin running just as the Stay at Home orders came down. They were able to postpone the start date twice and finally agreed to start them May 11. There are four graphics that run eight seconds each every minute. The billboard runs 24/7 and the VBT ads will be there through 11:59 p.m. on June 7; and
• Heard Lothringer say because of the relationship with Hour Media, the DDA was able to take advantage of an opportunity to sponsor a 12-week podcast featuring RJ King, a highly respected editor, who talks on “How to Grow Your Business.” As the sole sponsor, the DDA gets a 30-second commercial at the beginning of each podcast and a live, 100-word read by King at the end. The podcast started May 11 and runs through July 27.