Goodrich – The reconstruction of West Hegel Road will mean less noise and fewer bumps for area residents traveling the thoroughfare.
Residents were invited to an open house village council meeting on Oct. 15 to look at and discuss the final engineering plans for the road reconstruction, prepared by Flint-based WadeTrim, 601 N. Saginaw St.
‘The road is in very poor condition,? said Rebecca Baker, WadeTrim engineer. ‘It is the heavy traffic on West Hegel Road leading to Goodrich schools that has created the (road) problem.?
Half of the road, 1,400 feet, will be completely removed and replaced along with new curbs and gutters.
Although the original plan was to replace the whole road, Pete Morey, village street administrator said the cost would be too high. Morey said to reconstruct the entire road would cost the village $1,250,000’the village share would be 20 percent, or $250,000. For West Hegel Road, engineers estimated the total reconstruction cost at $430,000. Usually the village would pay the 20 percent of this amount, or $86,000.
Morey said that Gov. Granholm’s Jobs Today program, instituted last year, has enabled the village to pay $42,000, which is only the cost of preliminary engineering.
‘For several years, past village council boards have been putting money in the bank to do projects like this to benefit the community. Getting half of this road done for $42,000 is a great savings,? said Morey.
The reconstruction will start in mid-April and is expected to be done by mid-June. Morey expects the reconstruction to go quick, weather permitting. ‘The road will be closed for 30 days at the most,? he said.