By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp. — Warmer weather is just a few months away as is road construction. This summer, the intersection of Oakwood and Hadley roads will be closed sometime in the summer of 2023. An exact date has not yet been announced.
“How this process goes, it goes out for bid and we get a contractor and work out a time line with them,” said Craig Bryson, senior manager of communications for the Road Commission for Oakland County. “This has not gone out for bid yet.”
The intersection in question has been the site of numerous car accidents. The project will include removal and replacement of a culvert under the intersection, extending the Oakwood Road center left-turn lane from Oakwood Elementary west through the intersection, widening the Oakwood Road shoulders to six feet, adding curbs and gutters to the intersection and improving storm sewer and drainage at the intersection.
Currently there is utility work and surveying taking place near the intersection.
“Often times, the utilities are under the side of the road, so they have to move. It’s just relocation work,” said Bryson.
Residents have voiced their desire for a roundabout at the intersection, but Bryson said the option was not feasible for the road commission.
“The biggest challenge for that intersection if a roundabout were to be built is environmental,” he said. “There are wetlands right up to the intersection, so the environmental impact would be large, and if we take some of those wetlands, we’d have to create comparable wetlands somewhere else to accommodate, so it’s not cost effective either.”
Bryson said that the project would accomplish the goal of making the intersection safer without the need for a roundabout.
“In most instances, a roundabout is the best option,” he said. “We can accomplish what we need to accomplish with a traditional intersection. Most times a roundabout is more ideal, but sometimes it’s not possible.”
The detour for the road closure of Oakwood will be Baldwin Road to Seymour Lake Road to Ortonville Road and back to Oakwood Road and vice versa. The detour for Hadley Road traffic will be Seymour Lake Road to Ortonville Road to Hegel Road and back to Hadley Road and vice versa. The dates for the road closure will be announced at a later date.