Wayne County officials explain Denton Road bridge closing

Wayne County Director of Public Services Andrew Kandrevas, Wayne County Director of Engineering Sami Khaldi, and DPS Deputy Scott Cabauatan were present to address a large audience at Monday’s regular Belleville City Council meeting.
The subject was the closed Denton Road Bridge and to make sure people had the correct information on what is going on. At the last city council meeting a resident said he saw a report that said the bridge did not need to be replaced.
Director Kandrevas said in October an inspection of the bridge was done. He explained the county hires firms to do the inspections and the firm said that the public cannot be allowed to use the bridge.
He said the inspection showed that underground pilings of wood had eroded and the east abutment was not resting on the support. The west abutment was OK, he said.
Kandrevas said they had to close the bridge immediately and come up with a plan.
“I assure you there is a problem and there’s nothing we can do right now to open it now,” he said, adding engineering is a process and funding is a process and they have to come up with a RFP (request for proposals) for a new bridge.
He said when they saw the bridge, it was like the Grosse Ile bridge that had similar problems. It was an old bridge with wood pilings. He said there is a process to firm up the gap but the other side could still fail because of its age.
He said it would take in excess of $3 million to repair the gap, but that is expensive to still end up with an old bridge.
“What is the cost of a new bridge?” he asked. “I don’t want to speculate. Any fix is very expensive compared to a new bridge.” He said an underwater fix could be made to the old bridge, but then the western abutment could fail. “That’s a risk nobody wants to take.”
He said the county does a lot of designs, but not bridges. He said the county is very aware of this bridge’s limitations. He said it is not very wide and the city’s “neighbor” [Van Buren Township Supervisor] Kevin McNamara said they need a bike path on there.
Also, the county knows how low the bridge is.
How unsafe is it? He said they have decided it is not safe now for a car to go over.
Kandrevas said a design company will come in, they’ll get an estimated cost of construction, it will be bid out, then they will get the funds to build.
“I hesitated to talk to you,” he said to the council and audience, that included about a dozen Belleville Yacht Club members. “We don’t have firm dates. And to rebuild the bridge is not cheap.”
He said there are concerns about traffic patterns on Belleville Road since the bridge is closed and county engineers are looking at it. He said the police chief wants the county to look at putting in a turn signal.
Mayor Pro Tem Ken Voigt asked when the RFPs are due back and Kandrevas said they haven’t started yet. He said EGLE (the state department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) has jurisdiction. He said they will give the county concepts for design and they are working with Van Buren Township on what is needed. He said they are also working with the state to see if there’s any grant money for the project.
He said EGLE and MDOT have recommendations on details and there has been a recommendation to raise the bridge.
“We need to know how much to raise it and when you raise it you have to go further out and disturb the water,” he said, noting it is tedious work and it raises the cost.
Kandrevas said the bridge was built in 1924 and in 1948 was constructed the way it is today. The abutment is on top of wooden piles. He said it is inspected every two years and there is an underwater inspection every five to six years. In 2018 they weren’t able to get into the water in November and did it by sonar and there was no problem.
He said last September was the last underwater study and it found the piling was separated from the abutment. He said it was three inches and now it’s gone.
“This is critical,” he said. “We cannot keep it open for traffic.” He said the initial estimate to fix it was $3 million, then it was $4.5 million and next year that will rise to $5 million. He said it will be a potential of $6 with the walks and with the light necessary, adding everything together, it could be $8 million.
Councilwoman Kelly Bates asked if people could walk or ride bikes over the closed bridge and engineer Sami Khaldi said when they close a bridge they don’t want the responsibility of having people on the bridge.
Mayor Kerreen Conley asked about a left-turn signal for those coming south over the bridge, where the right turn now is a “right lane to nowhere.” She said the detour doesn’t really work. She also addressed the traffic cones that don’t get the drivers out of the right lane fast enough.
Kandrevas said they are talking to City Manager/Police Chief Robinson about this.
Mayor Conley said as far as the RFPs go, the city would like to have a conversation with the committee on the design and, “We don’t want any surprises.”
“For sure, you’ll be in on that,” Kandrevas said.
When Councilman Tom Fielder asked about comments and suggestions from the public on the design, Kandrevas asked them to be given to the city administration, which can compile them and send them to the county. This would be better than one-by-one suggestions to the county, he said.
Khaldi said the new bridge should last 70 years.
Kandrevas said the county will talk with the city’s police chief and set up a temporary left-turn signal in a way that has an impact.
“It’s an easy ask for you guys,” he said to the council. Councilwoman Bates asked if it will be up in the next couple of weeks and Kandrevas replied, “You’ll have it soon.”
Councilman Jeremiah Beebe said other closed bridges in the community lingered forever and he asked when the city could have some dates on this.
Kandrevas said they can’t give dates yet.
“When should we expect something concrete?” Councilman Beebe persisted.
“We’ll definitely keep you in the loop when we have MDOP or EGLE clearance,” Kandrevas replied.
Engineer Khaldi said it will take one year to design, working with EGLE, and it might take a year and a half, or two seasons, to construct, putting it at 2025 or 2026. He said they are looking at options for grants. There were bridge funding grants, but they ran out because there are so many bridges to repair, he said.
Mayor Conley asked where the Denton Road bridge stands in the county’s priority and Khaldi said, “This is a priority for us. When we close a bridge, it’s a priority.” He said now they need to find the money.
In discussing a temporary turn signal, Fielder warned that will not make traffic move faster, but actually slow down movement since a left-turn signal will take time to operate.
“You’ll be waiting longer during rush hour,” he said.
Khaldi said ordering will take time. Kandrevas said they have made their point and the county will move fast on a temporary turn signal. The engineer is already talking about it, he said.
There was more discussion on the poor conditions of Beckley and Denton roads for the bridge detour, with Kandrevas promising to look into it.
Also, officials said the bridge was safe to go under now, but contractors may close it to traffic during demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new bridge. It was noted that if contractors have to keep some of the water under the bridge open during construction, that will cost more money.
After more comments from the audience and council, Kandrevas thanked the city for providing the forum.
“When a bridge is not there, it’s a big deal,” he stated.
Later in the meeting, City Manager/Police Chief Robinson said it was not easy getting Kandrevas to the council meeting, but he came and brought two others.
“We have to battle incorrect information,” he said. “We just want to know what’s going on.”
Councilman Beebe said he gave the officials credit for “coming to stand in front of a firing squad.”
Also at Monday’s regular meeting, the council:
• Approved the drug/alcohol policy for the SMART Senior Transportation driver, as required by law, although the senior transportation program has not been in operation for more than six months. Robinson said SMART has not responded to more than 10 email requests for the cost of repairing the city’s SMART bus. He said he got a new contract with SMART but he’s not going to sign it and they’ll have to call the city;
• Approved a Special Event Application for Egan Pub’s annual St. Patrick Day celebration from noon to midnight March 17 in a tent on the Fourth Street Square. He said the guests will be gated in and the DORA drinks from other locations not allowed in because of the special permit;
• Approved a Special Event Application for Egan’s Pub free car show from 6 to 8 p.m. on Main Street every Monday from June 5 to Sept. 25. Main Street will close from 5 to 9 p.m.;
• Approved the mayor’s appointments / reappointment to boards and commissions. Alicia McGovern was reappointed to the Downtown Development Authority with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2026; James O’Keefe has a new appointment to the planning commission with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2024; and Sara Frey has a new appointment to the Board of Review with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2026;
• Approved accounts payable in the amount of $154,529.05 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500:
to Abbey Door, $2,629.50 for replacement of bay door sections at the fire department after the door was hit; to Blue Ribbon Contracting, $11,089.50 for water main break repair at 300 W. Columbia Ave.; to Detroit Salt Company, $2,942.13 for road salt; and to Railroad Management Company, $610.61 for sewer easement; and
• Heard Robinson say that he expects a presentation from a bus company at the Feb. 20 council meeting. The bus now temporarily stops at the library. He said he told the bus company they need to bring in information, such as insurance and bonding. He said they use grant funding and he has a lot of questions.