Huntington Woods holds off on new traffic signal bid

HUNTINGTON WOODS — The approval of a project that would install a new traffic signal in Huntington Woods has been postponed at least a month.

At its Nov. 19 meeting, the Huntington Woods City Commission reviewed a bid for the installation of a traffic signal and pedestrian crossing at 11 Mile Road and Mortenson Boulevard.

The bid that the commission reviewed was from Rauhorn Electric, of Bruce Township, for a total of $379,095.50. The city also received a Safe Streets Grant from the state of Michigan in the amount of $100,000 to help pay for the installation.

City Manager Chris Wilson anticipated the construction work will be done next summer and be done in time for the beginning of the school year.

“There is a traffic signal, which is going to be predominantly flowing the same way most of the time unless somebody triggers it to turn off on Mortensen, but the biggest advantage here is the pedestrian crossing across 11 Mile, which we currently don’t have between Woodward (Avenue) and Coolidge (Highway), which is kind of the impetus for putting this together,” Wilson said.

The commission was in support of the project, but Commissioner Michelle Elder, who stated she has wanted this project for a long time, had a concern with a nonanswer from the contractor to the question of their approach or commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Elder stated the response the city got was that the firm was in compliance with federal law, which she stated was not a policy on DEI.

“I might want to also remind the city that we have committed to an anti-racism plan three or four years ago now, and where are we today? So, I am very disappointed with this particular firm’s answer,” she said.

“I want to make it very clear that I do support this project, and it does sound like we have some leeway and time to get this right,” she continued.

When asked if a delay of an approval would jeopardize the grant or construction, Wilson said it wouldn’t.

“I think the worst you could do is if you went with a different bidder, you might be required to pay any difference in cost, but then the grant is not going to cover the entire cost anyway, so we’d be on the hook for all that cost,” he said. “Time-wise, I’m told … there’s around a 90-day to 120-day lead time … for them to get their work done. … So I think you have a little bit of time, not a lot. You could probably wait one more month and make that deadline, but I won’t commit to that entirely, but I think that would be my best estimation.”

The commission did approve to table the decision on the bid until its December meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 10. The commission is looking for responses from all three of its bidders on their DEI policies.

“With these smaller businesses, what I found is that you do have to ask,” Elder said. “It’s not intuitive. And when you start having those conversations, one, you communicate that this is important to the city. Our residents showed up multiple times and told us that this is something that’s important to them. The anti-racism committee has been working on this for the last year. This is an impactful policy and I really look forward to what the committee comes up with. I hope we’re going to get something from them soon. But listen, we spend $8 million a year in our city budget, and who we spend it with can make an impact. So I guess my only comment is we work with a lot of small businesses of different backgrounds and there is no right or wrong answer, but I’m looking for that commitment and a willingness to partner with us on a shared vision and a shared … effort is what I’m looking for.”