By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp. — The road work on M-15 is coming along.
Slowly.
Construction began in mid-September, as is still expected to be completed before Thanksgiving, but with changing weather, the timeline isn’t as easy to predict.
“This weather is absolutely perfect, we’d love to be out there,” said Mark Koskinen, Michigan Department of Transportation project coordinator. “But it still is getting really cold at night. We’re not in the hot summer, so it takes longer.”
The construction has had southbound M-15 closed from Granger Road to Wolfe Road for culvert replacement at Duck Creek. The concrete has been poured for the closed half of the road, and once it cures, the northbound traffic will be flipped to the southbound lane so the work in the northbound lane can be completed. The road will still be closed to southbound traffic.
“If we put people on the concrete too soon, it’ll break up,” said Koskinen.
Because of the colder weather, the concrete takes longer to cure than in the summer. And while the concrete will be poured by the original Nov. 18 deadline, it will take a bit longer to cure and be driveable.
“It’s all going to come down to how long it takes to cure,” said Koskinen.
Anyone with any questions can call MDOT at 248-451-0001.