Unfortunately, patrons of businesses in downtown Oxford’s northwest quadrant will have to put up with a parking lot surfaced with aggregate until spring.
‘The weather beat us,? said Mark Young, chairman of the Oxford Downtown Development Authority.
All work on the parking lot reconstruction project stopped Dec. 1 as the below-freezing temperatures of late are simply too cold for the laying of asphalt.
‘They need minimum 35-38 degrees and rising,? said Young, who owns Mark A. Young Jewelers located in the northwest quadrant.
The parking lot is currently open for public use.
Complications with improvements to the southwest quadrant, which was done first because of all its restaurant traffic, caused some of the delay with the northwest project.
‘It just took a little bit longer than what we anticipated,? Young said. ‘It put us back a couple of weeks.?
Trying to get DTE Energy to adhere to any kind of schedule has also presented its own unique challenges.
‘Part of the problem is we’re kind of stuck with DTE,? Young said.
DTE is supposed to move two of its existing utility poles in the northwest lot and replace them with stronger, cleaner-looking laminate poles, which are currently being built.
‘We don’t know exact locations for the poles yet,? Young said.
Although he’s disappointed the new asphalt surface couldn’t be installed this year, Young said waiting until spring ‘was the prudent thing to do really? because DTE Energy still needs to lay some underground cable across the lot.
‘If we had put down a surface, we would have had to cut it up again to get some conduit in there,? he explained.
Overall, Young said he prefers laying the asphalt in the spring when temperatures are warmer, so the DDA can avoid spending more money resurfacing the ‘soft spots? that result from moisture and cooler temperatures.
‘It will make for a better finished product and a longer-lasting one,? he said.
Young wished to note none of these delays were the fault of the Washington Twp.-based Pro-Line Asphalt Paving, the contractor the DDA hired to redo both lots.
‘It had nothing to do with the contractor,? he said. ? Actually, they’re great to work with. They busted it out the best they could.?