A stretch of Grand River Avenue through downtown Brighton will have a fresh coat of asphalt within the next few weeks, according to city public works officials. The roadwork will result in lane closures that will impact travel through downtown and near Interstate 96.
Road workers this week are set to mill down the existing pavement and start applying new asphalt on a little less than a mile of Grand River between I-96 and the Cross Street area.
Department of Public Works Director Marcel Goch said the pavement work will be done one lane at a time between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. each day this week to minimize the impact on traffic.
"We might have to have two lanes closed at night. It's possible, because the machines sits in one lane and they mill it off of the other lane. It all depends on how they set up," Goch said.
Road workers are expected to remove the existing pavement and put down a base layer on all lanes of the road by Friday.
The asphalt base layer "will be pretty easy to drive on," Goch said. "It's just a heavier course base."
He said the final top layer of asphalt will be applied "potentially the week after next."
While the road is expected to remain open to traffic, city officials suggest taking alternate routes around the construction when possible.
"Everything is supposed to be done per our contract by June 30," Goch said.
Next week, some spot repairs and right-of-way rehabilitation work is expected to require intermittent lane closures between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The city is completing about $1.05 million in roadwork on Grand River Avenue from Interstate 96 to the bridge over Ore Creek. Federal funding to the tune of $818,500 made is possible and the city will cover the remaining balance of about $236,500, City Manager Nate Geinzer said.