Township road panel makes recommendations
By Dana Casadei
The Bloomfield Township Road Advisory Committee (RAC) has been looking at the township’s road conditions in hopes of finding solutions for one of Bloomfield Township residents' most talked about concerns and the panel presented its findings at the board of trustees meeting on Monday, September 28, with eight recommendations that included both short-term and long-term planning.
Formed in March 2025, the RAC held its first meeting that April, and first further discussed the township’s road problems, and figured out who should be responsible for each, whether that be Bloomfield Township or Oakland County, who are both responsible for township roads.
Those meetings were held with Noah Mehalski, Bloomfield Township Director of Public Works; Gary Piotrowicz, Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Deputy Managing Director; Jason Theis, Bloomfield Township Finance Director; Lori Swanson and David Anason, MDOT TSC manager and Project & Contracts Engineer; Corey Almas, Bloomfield Township Engineering & Environmental Services; Michael Siegrist, Canton Township Clerk and Donni Steele, State Representative.
Members of the RAC include chairman Jeff Salz, Dr. Gary Assarian, John Cervenak, Steve Harris, Jeff Hockman, McCready, Fred Nadar, Mindy Richards and Dr. Jay Shah.
From there, the RAC came up with high-level findings that focused on the township’s role and responsibilities, as well as the role of RCOC. Those findings then led to the recommendations they had for the board in September.
“To say that the issue is complicated is an understatement,” Salz said.
According to the most recent RCOC Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) analysis, 80 percent of the township’s 213 miles of subdivision roads – 176 miles paved and 37 miles of gravel – are in poor condition.
Salz said that number may no longer be accurate because the PASER analysis is only done every three years, with the most recent report being conducted in 2025. Having the township request the RCOC perform an annual PASER analysis within the township was one of the RAC’s recommendations.
The RAC’s also recommended the continued allocation of $250,000 annually to the road fund, which Bloomfield Township already does; and $250,000 annually or more towards special assessment districts (SADs) within the township.
With the current safety path millage scheduled to expire during the 2027-2028 fiscal year, the RAC recommended taking that $3.9 million and putting it towards a supplemental road millage of the same amount. Those funds would then be directed towards repair, maintenance and overall improvement of subdivision roads within the township.
“You have all become such experts in this, which is ever-changing… I appreciate you all taking the time to do it,” said trustee Chris Kolinski.
Some of their other recommendations are less complex than others, such as Bloomfield Township staff continuing their close coordination with the RCOC on the roads that Oakland County owns, and remaining in regular contact with elected officials in Oakland County, the state of Michigan and the federal government.
The RAC would also like to see Bloomfield Township consider a construction impact fee. This fee would go into place after collecting data to determine if permitted construction in neighborhoods has a negative impact on local road conditions. If it has been determined that a negative impact did occur, there would be consideration of a one percent fee on permitted construction for the construction impact fee.
Any funds generated through this type of fee would be dedicated to local neighborhood roads where the construction occurred that had a negative impact.
The last of their recommendations discussed Michigan’s new neighborhood road legislation, which went into effect last October. Through this legislation, the RCOC is anticipated to receive $45 million for neighborhood roads. According to Salz, none of that $45 million has been allocated yet. The RAC asked that the board monitor the release and distribution of those funds and advocate for roadway improvement priorities in Bloomfield Township to receive consideration.
Long-term recommendations by the RAC consisted of evaluating and suggesting changes to PA 51, which was enacted in 1951; and doing further research into how Headlee legislation can be interpreted.
“I want to say a big thank you to all the members who are here in front of us… for this very complicated subject with lots of opinions,” said supervisor Mike McCready.
“Thank you for providing some great ideas for all of us to consider… gives us some real possibilities,” said trustee Neal Barnett.
