Macomb Township officials: Parks, construction, grants highlight 2023

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — It may not feel like it, but 2023 was a busy year for Macomb Township.

The last year saw new parks, a slew of grant funding and road projects aimed at matching the community’s growth.

At the top of the list for the township’s elected officials in 2023 was the opening of Pitchford Park. Located on Romeo Plank between 22 Mile and 23 Mile roads, the new park saw a soft opening in November with finishing touches coming this spring.

“It’s our third developed park where there’s activities and a playscape and a dog park,” Macomb Township Treasurer Leon Drolet said.

Where Pitchford Park is a developed park, Lucido River Park is a nature-focused addition to the township’s parks and recreation lineup. Acquired in early 2023 with a donation from the family of Macomb Township Trustee Peter Lucido III, a clubhouse on the site at 52127 North Ave. has been repurposed as an event space while its proximity to the North Branch of the Clinton River gives the township a foothold to build its North Branch Greenway project. The greenway project plans to preserve natural space along the township’s stretch of the branch and would be nowhere without a late-year $1.7 million grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development.

The DNR grant was the third largest the township received in 2023. Over $10.5 million came to the township in the form of grants, appropriations and donations outside of regular grant funds.

“We set out to dramatically increase the amount of our residents’ state and federal tax dollars that we bring back to the township,” Drolet said.

Parks received about $1.8 million of those funds with other grants adorning parks with trees, signage, a butterfly garden and a dog park statue at Pitchford Park. Infrastructure projects received the most funds with $8.8 million being put toward current and future projects. A grant worth $1.1 million was acquired to update the township’s streetlights and congressional representatives brought $7.6 million for transportation projects, including $2.6 million in federal funds to repair a bridge on 21 Mile Road near Garfield Road.

The extension of Garfield and widening of 23 Mile Road were likely noticed by drivers, and they can expect more work in the years to come. Garfield will receive further northward expansion while 2 miles of 25 Mile Road will be widened. The widening of Romeo Plank will likely see its first steps made in 2024 while the expansion of Broughton Road will likely remain in a $5 million state-funded visualization stage until construction begins in 2026 or 2027.

“It will be a big relief to get Garfield through,” Macomb Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said. “Romeo Plank will be a big headache for residents in the years it is under construction, but it’s sorely needed. As someone who lives on that intersection, it’s a terrible stretch of road to live on and drive on.”

It does not take a master’s degree in planning to see how much of the township’s transportation development is car-centric, but Viviano said steps are being taken to support other modes of transportation. A grant-funded pathway connecting the township center to Macomb Corners Park will be finished in 2024 and a bridge will connect Pitchford Park to the neighborhood to its west. Sidewalks are planned to increase the pedestrian and bicycle accessibility of the park.

With over $5 million committed to it, township officials have big plans for the expansion of Broughton Road.

“A lot of focus is going to be put on making Broughton Road not just a concrete strip to drive on,” Drolet said. “We want to make it a much more significant piece of our community than that, and that includes making sure people can access it and enjoy it from their bike (and) by walking by making sure it’s a streetscape, not just a concrete strip.”

Officials believe the year’s developments are the result of effective relationships at township hall and on the Board of Trustees.

“It takes time with a new board,” Macomb Township Clerk Kristi Pozzi said. “The first year, everyone is trying to figure out each other and how to work together. The second year, you start to make some progress and you’re cleaning up some of the mess. It’s the third and fourth years where you really start to make progress and a difference, and I think what you’re seeing in 2023, the working together and everyone’s understanding their responsibilities, working with the employees to accomplish for the residents, I think we’re finally seeing the momentum of all (the officials) being elected in 2020.”

The Macomb Township Board of Trustees regularly meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 54111 Broughton Road.