Those pesky orange barrels will begin popping up along M-24 in Oxford and Orion next year.
Their anticipated presence can only mean one thing – ROAD WORK!
But don’t run screaming into the night just yet.
Read on weary motorist.
A 4.9-mile stretch of M-24 beginning at Clarkston Road in Orion and ending at the Oxford Village limits will undergo a $1.046 million resurfacing project starting in the spring.
Weather permitting, the project will commence the first week of May and finish by late June or early July, according to Robert Morosi, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Morosi said MDOT’s “target” is to complete the work before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
So as not to inconvenience motorists or disrupt the downtown business district, Morosi said the road construction will be performed at night – 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
On weekdays, Morosi said the construction barrels will be removed from the road by 6 a.m.
During the work periods, one northbound and one southbound lane will remain open so motorists will still be able to get through.
Also, the entire 4.9-mile stretch will not be resurfaced at the same time, Morosi noted.
“It will be done in two-mile increments,” he said.
Given these factors, Morosi said, “I don’t forsee any major hindrances” to Oxford’s downtown businesses.
Morosi said the resurfacing project will include “milling off” the top 1? inches of pavement, making any necessary repairs to the “subbase,” and laying 1? – 2 inches of new asphalt, which should last “five to seven years.”
MDOT wants to “upgrade” M-24 from a “decent road to a good road,” the spokesman explained.
“The road’s not in bad shape now,” he said.
The resurfacing project is basically a preemptive move to improve M-24 “instead of allowing the road to deteriorate to the point where it needs to be rebuilt.”