What Roads Does Birmingham Plan to Repair in 2013?

Is your street next on the list for Birmingham's road construction calendar?

Saturday, City Engineer Paul O'Meara presented the Birmingham City Commisison with a list of proposed road construction projects for the next five years. Big projects in 2013 include ripping up Pierce and Merrill downtown while also replacing part of Derby Road in front of Derby Middle School.

The presentation was part of the city's annual long-range planning session, during which comimssioners take an early look at upcoming projects and the state of the city's finances.

Determining which streets need fixing first is a complicated process, O'Meara said, based on an algorithm that looks at both the length of a project and how many additional years of "surface life" a street gains from the project.

O'Meara said the city also looks at the streets that need their water or sewer lines replaced when prioritizing repairs, while also considering smaller resurfacing projects that save money while improving the service life of the street.

"We pick the project for complete reconstruction to gain the most benefit whenever possible," O'Meara said.

In 2012, those projects included reconstructing East Maple Road from Adams to Eton, a project that spanned nearly half a year and required partial or total lane closures beginning in spring 2012. Several streets in Birmingham's Poppleton Park neighborhood were also resurfaced while the city re-painted the bridges on Oak Street and Maple as well.

In total, the city spent $1.8 million from both the major street fund and local street funds to pay for the 2012 projects.

According to City Manager Bob Bruner, the city is largely on its own when it comes to funding local road projects since very few of Birmingham's streets are eligible for federal aid.

"The state or federal government is not going to pay us to maintain our local roads," he said. "We're going to be on our own."

So what's ahead on Birmingham's road construction schedule? As of yet, there are no estimated dates for these projects until funding is secured. Projects scheduled for later years are purely tentative, O'Meara said.

2013

• Paving a half mile of Cole Street and two blocks of Tory.
• Tearing up part of Pierce Street and Merrill in downtown Birmingham, near City Hall. This project involves replacing many of the sewer and water lines in that area and fixing the sidewalks. Construction was approved by the commission late last summer.
• Replacing Derby Road in front of the middle school, just off Adams.
• Resurfacing parts of Landon Street and Wallace Street.

Projected costs: $725,000 from major streets fund; $1.4 million from local streets fund

2014

• Reconstruction of Kennesaw Street and Oxford Street — streets that date back to 1928, O'Meara said.
• Replacing water and sewer lines along North Eton Road.
• Resurfacing parts of Lincoln, West Frank and a section of Derby.
• Replacing sewers on Yosemite Boulevard and Villa Road.

Projected costs: $1.8 million from major streets fund; $1.4 million from local streets fund

2015

• Resurfacing parts of West Maple from Southfield to Cranbrook — "We're hoping this will make sense in two years," O'Meara said.
• Reconstructing two blocks of Southlawn, Mansfield and Henrietta.

Projected costs: $1.03 million from major streets fund; $1.06 million from local streets fund

2016

• Reconstructing a part of South Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham.
• Reconstructing part of Oak Street — O'Meara said he hopes the project will funnel more storm water into Rouge River.
• Resurfacing a half mile of Webster Street.
• Reconstructing the intersection of Quarton and Chesterfield

Projected costs: $2 million from major streets fund; $1.09 million from local streets fund

2017

• Finish reconstruction of South Old Woodward.
• Resurfacing several dead-end streets throughout the city;.
• Reconstructing Redding Road, near Woodward

Projected costs: $2.2 million from major streets fund; $1.2 million from local streets fund

Correction: Birmingham will replace sewer and water lines along, as well as reconstruct, North Eton in 2014, not 2013.