Feb. 4 Start Date Set for Auburn Road Reconstruction

Mark your calendars, motorists. The orange barrels are scheduled to go up Feb. 4 on Auburn Road between Dequindre and Ryan.

Shelby Township Planning Director Glenn Wynn said the reconstruction will include a new road surface, left turn lanes and storm water drainage. Work is expected to be completed by mid-July.

The township will use its remaining community development block grants to cover its portion of the project's cost, Wynn said. These are the last funds available until the grant cycle renews in 2015.

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Across the county, the Macomb County Department of Roads has scheduled more than $38 million in road projects for 2013, with the $2.7 million reconstruction of Auburn Road leading the way.

Three additional projects have also been approved for Shelby Township and Utica.

Starting in June, and to the tune of $8.6 million, construction crews will begin widening Hayes Road to five lanes between 21 and 23 mile roads. Luckily for Shelby Township taxpayers, the township will cover only a fraction of the overall cost.

Thanks to federal funds, which will cover 80 percent of the cost, Shelby Township will only pay one-quarter of the 20 percent remaining. The Macomb County Department of Roads and Macomb Township will cover the other three-quarters.

Van Dyke will also be the subject of a widening project that Macomb County Department of Roads Director Bob Hoepfner said will be the last link of the Van Dyke improvements.

Starting in May and tentatively scheduled to continue through October, the roadway will be widened to three lanes from 26 Mile to West and to five lanes between 25 Mile and 26 Mile.

A non-motorized bike path through River Bends Park is the last improvement scheduled this year for Shelby Township and Utica. This project, estimated to cost $1.7 million, will begin in May and should be open for cyclists by September.

See a full list of the county's 2013 road projects here.