By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp. — A three year plan for a mile section of Green Road on the township Goodrich border was outlined on Tuesday night.
In September 2022 the township board of trustees voted 4-0 to apply for a Michigan Department of Transportation Small Urban grant to provide $345,000 for the partial funding of Green Road from Gale to Ridge roads. An estimated cost for paving Green Road according to the Genesee County Road Commission is $1,500,000 for that mile section.
Beginning in the fall of 2023 trees will be removed, in 2024 ditching and 2025 will be the pavement.
The road improvement will also require tree removal, ditching, culvert replacement and width adjustments at some point. The estimate is it will cost $179,000 to take down 175 trees along Green Road.
The project does not include bike paths or sidewalks which could add more than $900,000 to the cost of the project.
“The township will lobby for sidewalks and pathways,” said Shirley Kautman-Jones, township supervisor. “If the road is to be paved, we will ask for a plan that includes a path. Residents should have a safe means to walk. There will be room for two-five feet wide sidewalks.
A speed study was conducted during the Memorial Day weekend in May 2021.
The average speed was 45-55 mph. On that Memorial Day weekend speeds went up to well over 60 mph. The highest speed was 101 mph and well over 50 cars were doing over 80 mph.
“Driving that fast on gravel roads is dangerous,” said Kautman-Jones. “You can’t control a vehicle at that speed. There is so much dust, and the residents deal with that dust all year, you just can’t keep up with the road maintenance. We need a process that makes sense.”
In May 2022, the township board of trustees voted to join the Genesee County Road Commission for an engineering and design agreement for a hard surface plan for Green Road from Ridge to Gale roads. The cost of the agreement was $70,000.