Construction Closes Lincoln Avenue Between Southfield and Cranbrook
Repaving project is expected to last until the beginning of October.
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Birmingham drivers who frequent Lincoln Avenue will have to find a different route between Southfield and Cranbrook, as that stretch of road is now closed during the duration of the Lincoln Avenue paving project.
The project will involve major upgrades to the city’s water and sewer systems along the route, as well as new concrete pavement. The work is expected to be completed in early October.
Because of the complexity and scale of the project, the route — which passes in front of Seaholm High School and approximately 100 homes — will be completely closed to traffic.
According to the city engineering department, the road will be reopened each evening for access to driveways and residents will not be blocked out of driveways overnight.
The contractor will be obligated to maintain access to each driveway as much as possible, though resident access may be limited when contractors are working directly in front of a particular home. Street parking in construction zones is strictly prohibited.
All residents in the area received notifications and information from the city ahead of the project.
According to assistant city engineer Brendan Cousino, contractors are expected to be at work until around 7 p.m. each evening. If residents need to reach their homes in the middle of the day or any homebound residents need to leave, such as the elderly, Cousino said they can make those arrangements with the city beforehand.
The construction and road closure may mean a bit of a headache when school starts back up in September, during which construction in front of Seaholm will be ongoing.
“We have met with the schools to discuss logistics about it,” Cousino said. “Obviously, it’s not going to be without some headaches.”
When all the work is done, Cousino said residents in the area can expect to enjoy a brand new road, hopefully with a long service life, updated sewers with fewer chances of backups and new water mains that will increase water pressure for area homes and fire hydrants.
The Southfield-Cranbrook detour routes will divert traffic along Maple Road, and Cousino said he doesn’t expect to have any problems with increased traffic flow.
“I don’t anticipate any backups on Maple,” he said.
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Seaholm High School
2436 W Lincoln St, Birmingham, MI -
Birmingham Engineering Department
151 Martin St, Birmingham, MI (Second Floor)
Roger Gienapp
9:10 am on Wednesday, June 22, 2011
From the information I have receieved from the City it appears that there has been no accommodation for people who need access to their homes during the work day. It is unrealistic to assume that everyone who lives on Lincoln or the several dead end streets accessed from Lincoln leave in the morning for work and return after 7pm every evening. Virtually every access route to those dead end streets have been cut of by barricades with no alternative routes designed into the construction process. Once again, our city engineers have failed to accept the idea that people live here....this is not just a construction project done in a vacuum.Merely sending out notices that say essentially, "sorry, folks, but you are out of luck...have a nice day." just doesn't serve the public need.
Trees
8:40 am on Thursday, June 23, 2011
I've had no trouble taking a parellel street South of Lincoln and cutting over on one of the North/South streets like Pleasant. I think they're doing a good job.