Chelsea Approves Next Steps on Two Road Contracts

Work will include traffic light upgrades for Chelsea High School’s intersections. Photo by Sue Kelch

Chelsea City Council approved road work contracts for Freer Rd. and Commerce Park Dr. construction projects at the May 4 meeting.

Freer Road

Work on Freer Rd. was originally set to extend from the Dexter-Chelsea intersection to Trinkley Rd. According to Chelsea’s utilities director Derik Bolinger at the March 9 Council meeting, the work was reduced due to cost.

“Now it is a two inch asphalt mill resurface project from Dexter-Chelsea to the high school entrance,” he said. “With that would be any necessary ADA ramp upgrades, some minor curb work, and also some small utility work. No large scale utility project is planned.”

In conjunction with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Chelsea City Council has been exploring construction bids for the project.

“In December, Council passed a resolution entering into a contract with MDOT,” Chelsea’s utilities director Derik Bollinger said. “Since that time, MDOT has held a bid opening for the Freer Road resurfacing project. The engineer’s cost estimate for this was $601,525. Cadillac Asphalt was a low bidder at $580,000 so about $21,000 under project budget.”

Engineering services, including staking, inspections, testing and traffic signal upgrades, will also be required for the project. Midwestern Consulting and Dapprich Enterprises submitted two proposals for portions of the work, totaling to a cost of $147,214.75. The council approved both contracts unanimously.

Commerce Park Drive

At Council’s March 9 meeting, a second contract was entered into with MDOT regarding reconstruction of Commerce Park Drive. After opening for bids and receiving three responses, Bolinger and the city’s engineers recommended awarding the contract to T&M Asphalt Paving for $551,067 upon approval from MDOT.

“At the end of the day, because this is a partially-funded project, MDOT has to review that information as well and give us the notice to proceed in order to award the contract,” Bolinger said.

However, according to the May 4 council meeting packet, the city has “no reason to believe MDOT will not agree” to enter into the proposed contract. Pending approval from the state, Council passed the contract with T&M Asphalt Paving unanimously, as well as an additional agreement with Midwestern Consulting for not to exceed $99,400 for preliminary work to be done in inspection.