Roads Committee

1999-2000 Annual Report

Walter J. Pociask Jr. - Chair
Tim Taylor, DPW Chief - Township Liaison
Gary Bailey - Secretary
Gordon Miles, Les Schmidtke, Richard Sligay, Clare Peoples, George Delphy, Jack Delphy - Members

The Grosse Ile Roads Committee oversees road and bike path conditions and needs , and makes recommendations for their maintenance and improvements. The sustained efforts of the Township elected officials, and our always great working relationships with Wayne County Roads Division, has allowed our community to develop and maintain roads and bikepaths that we can all enjoy and be proud of.

In 1999, we completed the total reconstruction of Macomb Street. This was the culmination of a multi-year project, with support from several financial sources, to make our Business District one that we, as residents, can all be proud of.

We started our bridge reconstruction efforts with replacements of the Southpointe bridge at the southern end of our community, and replacement of the Horsemill Bridge at the northern end. Although both bridges were subjected to some delays, they will both be done in the first half of 2000, with great benefits from both. In the upcoming construction season, the Church Road bridge will be replaced . Church and Horsemill bridges will afford a little more overhead room to boaters in the Thorofare Canal when done, as well as a wider, safer bridge for drivers.

West River Road, between Southpointe and the Wayne County Bridge, has had ongoing construction, which should be completed this upcoming construction season with a new paved and improved roadway. Roads Committee has recommended that the engineering work necessary to design the remainder of West River Rd. be started this year, if at all possible, so that West River road can be reworked in phases in the next three construction seasons.

We got a new road surface on Bridge Road last spring, and we got a base coat on Grosse Ile Parkway from the County Bridge to Meridian late last fall. This temporary roadway surface will be covered in the spring with its wearcoat and visitors to our island will get a smooth ride, hopefully in time for Island Fest on June 2nd.

The John Neidhart Memorial Bike Path Network on Grosse Ile would make John proud: Neighboring communities call it the “Poster Child” for bike path networks. Several neighboring cities are working toward bikepath systems that will link to each other, and to our system. We currently expect to complete additional legs of our existing system in several parts of our island, giving our residents the best system possible.

In order to keep our Roads and Bike Paths in good condition, and improving, we of the Roads Committee fully support the renewal of Road millages and Bike Path millages when the current ones expire. It is in our community’s best interests to never allow the systems to deteriorate.

Come to a meeting of the Roads Committee any first Tuesday of the month, at the DPW Building, at 7:30 PM. Your input is needed and appreciated.

1999-2000 Annual Report

1999-2000 Annual Report

Table of Contents

Print this document