M-15 overhaul planned for 2012

A span of M-15 extending from Brandon Township to Atlas Township will get a makeover next year.
The Michigan Department of Transportation has announced plans to resurface M-15 from Wolfe Road north to Ray Road. The project is expected to begin in September 2012 and will also include work on the South Street intersection, as well as the intersection on M-15 that connects Mill Street and Grange Hall Road.
‘It’s a capital preventive maintenance project,? said Tom Pozolo, development engineer for MDOT. ‘We take a relatively decent road and use a maintenance project to extend the life of the road, instead of waiting until it’s so bad we have to do major rehabilitation.?
The resurfacing project encompasses a 2.9 mile stretch of M-15 and will involve milling down an inch-and-a-half of asphalt and replacing it with new hot mix asphalt.
At the intersections, Pozolo said outdated signals will be modernized to make it safer for drivers and for maintenance workers. Sidewalks and crosswalks will be brought up to ADA standards.
The total cost of the project is $1.2 million, with 80 percent federally funded and 20 percent funded by the state of Michigan. It will take about two months to complete the project, with much of the work done at night and on weekends to minimize impact on traffic.
Pozolo said widening of M-15 is not planned for anytime in the foreseeable future.