Three township roads to be repaved this spring

Bloomfield Township Director of Public Works Thomas Trice went before the board of trustees on Monday, February 24, to ask for approval on the tri-party program for Wing Lake, Wabeek, and Exeter roads and to give the supervisor the necessary authority to sign the agreements. The tri-party agreement will have Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, and the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) all paying for one-third of the cost of the projects. According to Trice, the project will cost $385,000 in total to repave all three of the roads. The township will pay an additional $28,277, with the township's total contribution will be $147,185 for the project, while the other two parties will pay $118, 908 each. This additional funding has been budgeted in the road fund. The work being done will include repairs to Exeter Road from Telegraph to Andover, in front of Township Hall; Wabeek Road south of Long Lake to the township's limit at Bent Tree Trail; and Wing Lake Road from Maple to 14 Mile Road. On Wing Lake, the eight intersections will be extended into the neighborhood. Those additional costs will not be part of the tri-party project, and is estimated at $65,000. It has been accounted for in the township's roads budget. Before the vote, trustees Dani Walsh and David Buckley had questions. Walsh had questions from those who live on Wing Lake and wanted to know if this was going to be done after the work on the school administration building was completed. Trice said no, it would be done in the summer. "We'd fix the road and then move on," Trice said. "These roads are all built to county standards – they can handle the heavy trucks." Buckley wanted to know if these roads are worse than others in need of repair. "Some are worse than others, maybe some aren't, but this is going to be the only opportunity that we're going to have to do any paving," Trice said. The paving program was eliminated from the township's roads budget, one of the cuts the department had to make after the August special assessment district was rejected by voters. Supervisor Leo Savoie pointed out with this project they have the ability to get things done quickly and fat less expense to the township. The proposal was approved by all trustees except Walsh, who was allowed to abstain from the vote due to a personal conflict because her mother lives on Wing Lake Road.