Portions of Reeck Road between Heritage Center Drive and Eureka are under reconstruction, part of a makeover expected to last through October.
By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE – Sections of Reeck Road are steadily being upgraded as part of a repaving project resulting in concrete roads expected to last up to 30 years.
City Administrator Brandon Fournier said crews from GV Cement of Brownstown Township shortly after Labor Day began the resurfacing on Reeck between Heritage Center Drive on the north and Eureka Road.
Catch basins also will be replaced in certain sections during the project, expected to take six to eight weeks. Reeck Road will remain open during construction.
Fournier said the project, estimated at just over $1 million, will be paid for by Act 51 gasoline tax revenues, and will stabilize the spray patch that had been applied this spring.
As city officials look to spend revenue on infrastructure, municipalities throughout Michigan are eager to explore longer-lasting solutions to the state’s crumbling roads. In May the city hosted an informational session for residents on responsibilities, funding and technology of road improvements.
Mayor Joseph Kuspa said the city has received steady renewals for a special road-improvement millage that, this year, was put to use during a pothole-repair campaign after the harsh winter that employed newer technologies for better, longer-lasting repairs.
Concrete mixes such as what is being poured along Reeck have twice the lifespan of conventional milling and asphalting, Fournier said, which last about 15 years before needing replacement.
Projects on tap for the remainder of 2014 include the Brest Road reconstruction that began last week, water pipe main replacements along Dix Toledo and North Line, and an additional $250,000 worth of street concrete sectioning throughout the city.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])