By: Dean Vaglia | Macomb Chronicle | Published February 7, 2024
MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The Broughton Road extension project will remain in the concept stages for a little longer.
Macomb Township trustees approved an additional $92,000 in traffic studies for the planned extension of Broughton Road. Passed unanimously at the board’s Jan. 24 meeting, the additional work comes at the request of the Macomb County Department of Roads.
A Southeast Michigan Council of Government grant will cover $23,750, leaving the township’s cost at $68,250.
According to Macomb Township Planning Director Josh Bocks, the county had concerns about the traffic impacts of the “boulevard-style” design proposed by the township. The plan features landscaped islands between northbound and southbound lanes, wide sidewalks and space for shops and restaurants to move in.
“The county doesn’t really have many (boulevard-style roads), so they were worried about how that, as well as on-street parking, might impact traffic flow,” Bocks said.
Drivers choosing to avoid the boulevard on Broughton, which would use the on-street parking to slow traffic, would drive traffic to surrounding roads. The study will determine how much traffic might be diverted, where it would divert to and other ways surrounding areas would be affected.
Architectural firm OHM Advisors has been working on planning and visualizing the Broughton Road extension since October 2023 and will handle the additional studies. The plan for the extension is modeled after the reconstructed Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, which OHM designed.
Asked by Trustee Frank Cusumano if this would be the last time the Macomb County Department of Roads would intervene in the project, Township Treasurer Leon Drolet said the department will play a key role in its development.
“We thought it would be more cost-effective long-term to fold the county into the early design phase rather than finding out the objections later and having to redo things,” Drolet said. “Effectively, this is work that needs to be done to incorporate some of the county’s safety (concerns) and other aspects that would be added later anyway, but just to put them earlier in the phase of planning and design.”
The Macomb County Department of Roads will need to approve the final design and build the final road.
CDBG Awards
Trustees approved the use of $32,200 in Community Development Block Grant funds and two CDBG project applications.
The township’s grant allocations were split four ways with $500 going to Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, $600 to Wigs for Kids, $2,500 for Care House and $28,600 to the township’s senior center.
The senior center was also the subject of a grant project application which aims to improve its parking lot for about $170,500.
An application for sidewalk ramp improvements at a cost of about $149,000 was also approved.