Left turn lane at Rochester Adams to be extended

The city of Rochester Hills and the Rochester Community School District will split the cost of widening Tienken Road from Rochester Adams High School to Olympia Drive in order to extend a left turn lane and alleviate traffic congestion.

Rochester Hills Director of Public Services Allan Schneck told Rochester Hills City Council members at its Monday, July 30, meeting that backups occur on a daily basis on school days as the existing left turn lane to the school becomes overloaded.

"As parents and students go to attend school there in the morning, there is a left turn lane at the westerly portion of the high school on Tienken that is very short, and what happens is that the cars start lining up in the through lane, which prevents any through traffic from occurring," he said.

Schneck said the city and school district officials met to discuss how to address the issue and determined extending the left turn lane would be the best way to improve traffic and safety in the area. The school board on Thursday, July 16, approved sharing the cost of the project with the city.

Under the agreement, the city and the school district will each provide $102,683.44 toward the project, with total construction costs of the project estimated at $205,366.88.

The district agreed to fund the project through a special assessment district levied against the Rochester Adams High School property.

City council on July 30 unanimously approved the cost participation agreement, with councilman Dale Hetrick absent.

The city's portion of the project will come from the city's major road rehabilitation program. Further, the school district will reimburse the city for the district's portion of the project.

Council also approved contract agreements with Pro-Line Asphalt in the amount of $189,682 for construction services on the project, and $34,800 with Spalding DeDecker for design and construction engineering services for the project.