Funding was approved for nearly $52 million worth of future road projects on February 6 by the Oakland County Federal Aid Task Force Funding Committee at its annual project selection meeting.
The committee allocates federal road funding to projects within the county. Each year, the committee identifies the projects that will receive the available federal road funds three years in the future. This year, for the first time, it selected projects for both three and four years in the future, 2010 and 2011, and also added funding for additional projects in 2009.
Certain Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), city and village road projects are eligible for federal funds. Federal road funds are the primary funding source for major road improvements in Michigan.
The amount of funding the county receives is determined primarily by the amount of money the federal government designates for road funding each year. This money is then divided by formula between the states and then between regions and counties within each state. The "pot" the committee has to spend also includes some state road funding through the Michigan Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF).
The 14-member Federal Aid Task Force Funding Committee includes 10 representatives of Oakland's cities, villages and townships, as well as two members from RCOC, one representative from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) and one from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). The committee reviews projects that are submitted by RCOC and cities and villages in the county. The projects compete for the available funds. In order to receive funding, projects must be rated, ranked and approved by the committee.
The projects are ranked using a "worst first" point system that gives the most points to those projects that will do the most to improve motorist safety and reduce traffic congestion. The projects that receive the most points receive funding. Every year, worthy projects costing millions of dollars go unfunded because of a lack of funds.
"Nearly $52 million seems like a lot of money. However, when you consider how much it costs these days to widen roads, and how great the needs are in Oakland County, this is really just a drop in the bucket," explained RCOC Managing Director Brent Bair. "Over the next 10 years, we anticipate more than $2 billion worth of road needs on RCOC roads and city and village streets."
Bair added the committee process is a very fair and objective means of determining which projects will receive the limited federal dollars available. "We are pleased to see so many worthy projects receive at least partial funding through this process," he stated.
Additionally, Bair noted the Oakland County Federal Aide Task Force's process of project selection is so fair and equitable that it was identified in the past by the Federal Highway Administration as a model for use nationwide.
PROJECT | LIMITS | PHASE | JURISDICTION | COMMUNITY | FEDERAL FUNDS |
Southfield Road (Reconstruct five lanes to a four-lane boulevard) | 12 Mile to 13 Mile | Design | RCOC | Southfield | $ 597,000 |
Washington Avenue, Lincoln to Woodward (rehabilitate and resurface) | Construction | Royal Oak | $ 310,000 | ||
Total 2009: $907,000 |
PROJECT | LIMITS | PHASE | JURISDICTION | COMMUNITY | FEDERAL FUNDS |
Martin Luther King (Widen to five lanes) | Elm St. to M-59 | Construction | Pontiac | Pontiac | $ 5,576,000 |
Stephenson Highway (Reconstruct) | 14 Mile to I-75 | Construction | Troy | Troy | $ 2,657,000 |
Southfield (Reconstruct as a 6-lane boulevard) | 10 Mile to 11 Mile | Construction | RCOC | Southfield and Lathrup Village | $ 8,880,000 |
Wattles (Widen to a boulevard) | East and west of Rochester | Construction | Troy | Troy | $ 2,175,000 |
Ray Road (Pave gravel) | M-24 to Oxford Road | Construction | RCOC | Oxford Twp | $ 1.5 million |
Orchard Lake (Reconstruct as a boulevard) | 13-Mile to 14-Mile | Design | RCOC | Farmington Hills | $ 659,000 |
14 Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Farmington to Orchard Lake | Construction | Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills/West Bloomfield Township | $ 818,000 |
14 Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Drake to Farmington | Construction | Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills/West Bloomfield Township | $ 890,000 |
South Boulevard. (Rehabilitate and resurface) | MLK to Opdyke | Construction | Pontiac | Pontiac | $ 404,000 |
Nine Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Greenfield to Parklawn | Construction | Oak Park | Oak Park | $ 713,000 |
Joslyn (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Walton to north city limits | Construction | Pontiac | Pontiac | $ 210,000 |
Main (Rehabilitate and resurface) | 13 Mile to Chippewa | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $ 235,000 |
Wayne (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Pike to Lafayette | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $ 94,000 |
Crooks (Rehabilitate and resurface) | North Main to Webster | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $ 561,000 |
North Main | Crooks to 13 Mile | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $527,000 |
Total 2010: $25,899,000 |
PROJECT | LIMITS | PHASE | JURISDICTION | COMMUNITY | FEDERAL FUNDS |
Baldwin (Widen to either a four-lane boulevard or five lanes) | Morgan to Waldon | Design | RCOC | Orion Township | $ 1,090,000 |
12 Mile (Widen from two lanes to five lanes with a bridge over the CSX railroad) | Beck to Dixon | Design | RCOC | Wixom and Novi | $ 1,322,000 |
Halsted (Widen from two lanes to five lanes) | Grand River to Hill Tech | Design | Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills | $ 1,201,000 |
Crooks (Widen to a four-lane boulevard) | M-59 to Hamlin | Construction | RCOC | Rochester Hills | $ 5,137,000 |
Livernois (Widen from two lanes to five lanes) | Long Lake to Square Lake | Troy | Troy | $ 2,400,000 | |
Not yet determined (pave gravel) | RCOC | $ 1,500,000 | |||
Middlebelt (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Eight Mile to 10 Mile | Construction | RCOC | Farmington Hills | $ 826,000 |
Walton Blvd. (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Clintonville to Pontiac limits | Construction | RCOC | Waterford Township | $ 804,000 |
Farmington (Rehabilitate and resurface) | 13 Mile to Glenmuer | Construction | Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills | $ 554,000 |
14 Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Northwestern to Middlebelt | Construction | Farmington Hills | Farmington Hills/West Bloomfield Township | $ 745,000 |
12 Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Crooks to Main | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $ 248,000 |
Walton Boulevard (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Adams to Livernois | Construction | RCOC | Rochester Hills | $ 1,130,000 |
Crooks (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Equity to Big Beaver | Construction | RCOC | Troy | $ 703,000 |
Adams (Rehabilitate and resurface) | South Blvd. to Auburn | Construction | RCOC | Rochester Hills/Auburn Hills | $ 539,000 |
Normandy (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Crooks to Main | Construction | Royal Oak | Royal Oak | $ 580,000 |
John R 14 Mile to Maple (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Construction | RCOC | Troy | $ 669,000 | |
Centerpoint Parkway Opdyke to South Boulevard (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Construction | Pontiac | Pontiac | $ 432,000 | |
Middlebelt (Rehabilitate and resurface) | 10 Mile to 11 Mile | Construction | RCOC | Farmington Hills | $ 538,000 |
Rochester Road (Rehabilitate and resurface) | 14 Mile to Elmwood | Construction | RCOC | Clawson | $ 280,000 |
Orchard Lake (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Eight Mile to Grand River | Construction | RCOC | Farmington Hills | $ 346,000 |
10 Mile (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Greenfield to Kenosha | Construction | RCOC | Oak Park | $ 409,000 |
Campbell (Rehabilitate and resurface) | 13 Mile to 14 Mile | Construction | Madison Heights | Madison Heights | $ 1,023,000 |
Lafayette (Rehabilitate and resurface) | Wayne to Perry | Construction | Pontiac | Pontiac | $ 64,000 |
Main (Reconstruct and resurface) | Lincoln to Maple | Construction | Clawson | Clawson | $ 2,124,000 |
Fern (Reconstruct and resurface) | Chesterfield to CN Terminal | Construction | Ferndale | Ferndale | $ 165,000 |
Chesterfield (Reconstruct and resurface) | Fair to Fern | Construction | Ferndale | Ferndale | $ 90,000 |
Total 2011: $24,919,000 | |||||
Total 2009, 2010, 2011: $51,725,000 |