Posted on 12/22/2017 7:11:01 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
When state construction crews begin work on westbound Interstate 696 in Roseville this spring, they’ll have to knock off the noise at some point in the night.
The Roseville City Council recently rejected a request by the Michigan Department of Transportation to work 24 hours a day, seven days week on the $90 million project.
“We are worried about the peace and quiet of our residents who live near the freeway as they are trying to get to sleep at night,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jan Haggerty.
MDOT plans to shut down the entire span of westbound I-696 from Interstate 94 to Interstate 75 starting in April to replace crumbling concrete on the freeway. MDOT engineers had applied for an overnight waiver to expedite construction, but it was denied.
Instead, work will be allowed only between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
According to MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross, the state agency will obey by the council’s decision. However, that may extend the project’s timeline.
“MDOT fully respects and will abide by all the City of Roseville’s local ordinances, including restricted work hours,” Alan Ostrowski, construction engineer, said in an email.
“This will require additional planning and coordination and will likely extend the duration of lane closures, therefore, impacting the project’s overall completion date.”
MDOT officials have said the work was expected to be wrapped up in November 2018. No new timeline for its conclusion has been given.
Haggerty and other council members said they simply are trying to protect residents who may be impacted by the noise and vibrations the work may create.
“If you were to put yourself in our citizens’ shoes and have to live with the jackhammers pounding away at all hours of the night, breaking up concrete, you can see why we took the action we did,” Haggerty said.
Mayor Robert Taylor agreed. But he’s not certain MDOT will accept the work restrictions.
“I don’t know if they will be abide by it,” he said. “We suggested they do all of the heavy work in daytime hours. We do know the freeway is in dire need of repair.”
MDOT engineers say they will meet again with Roseville officials to request exemptions for specific work operations that are “extremely sensitive and/or temperature dependent.”
“We are aware that noise and vibration is of particular concern, so provisions are being made to closely monitor and ensure acceptable thresholds are not exceeded day or night,” Ostrowski said in the email.
The project also impacts Warren to the west, but that community issues waivers on a month-by-month basis, according to MDOT.
MDOT plans to remove and replace all concrete in both directions of the freeway, including entrance/exit ramps. It also will conduct bridge maintenance and repair concrete median barrier walls.
All eastbound lanes of I-696 will remain open during the work. When it’s time for the work on the eastbound lanes, traffic will be shifted onto a portion of the westbound side, according to MDOT.
Cross said MDOT wants to complete the work while federal funding is available and before construction on the nearby I-75 modernization project begins.
I-696 carries about 150,000 motorists through Macomb County every day, MDOT reports.
What a mess this construction is going to be for 696 commuters.
I’m up in Shelby Twp. so little impact but feel for the folks to the south.
When I was a kid, we lived near a Railroad track. We slept like babies..................
I take Mound to 696 to Novi 5 days a week. This is going to suck!
Didn’t they just shut down all of I-696 ten or eleven years ago to rebuild it?
I don’t live in Michigan anymore but does John Carlo still get all the freeway repair business? I think maybe they should use someone who does better work.
And finally, Roseville politicians are idiots. The road crew should be working 24/7. Forget peace and tranquility.
I live a few hundred feet from a major road project. They work at night and it doesn’t bother me one bit. Not getting it done on time bothers me a lot.
I used to live in Mt. Clemens. Within two blocks was a hospital and a train track. Ambulances and trains were constant. 5 or 6 miles away was an air national guard base. Jets were the other constant.
Slept like a rock.
EMS headquarters is across the street from my house.
The lights are bothersome, but the noise is not....................
So they’re so worried about the peace and quiet of the residents they’ll shave 30% off the workday and make the job take longer. Good job city council.
No time differential pay? Okay add 2x to the construction completion date. They will get their pay...
IF thee is a ‘completion date’ penalty in that contract, that portion has to be re-0written.
Changing the work hours AFTER a contract is signed is absolutely BREACH of CONTRACT.
When the 1994 earthquake took the Santa Monica freeway in Los Angeles out of commission, that work was done 24/7 until it was ready to be opened gain.
The construction company got a $1M a day BONUS for completing early. That money was split between he workers who had completed their individual contracts with C C Meyers.
There were warnings to the public all over media ahead of time telling people the work would be 24/7. They rented large mobile light systems to work at night.
Since ie was opened back up more than 3 months ahead of time, everyone was very happy.
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