Are there other, less expensive options than rebuilding our roads?
This question is frequently raised by residents in our small group meetings and in discussions with volunteers. It also came up during the petition effort for the Pink and Blue sections. A blog post from March 28, 2023 addressed the issue — click through HERE to read that post.
A little history…
Our roads were originally paved in the 1960s. Since the mid-1980s, the Village Board and various road committees have worked to develop solutions to our aging roads. The “History” tab on the home page (HERE) provides more detail. Key dates:
2001 — The consulting engineer for Bloomfield Township concluded that most of the Village roads need to be rebuilt. Some areas with more recently built roads (Indian Mound, Sandringham) could be overlayed.
2008 — The Township’s consulting engineer assesses that a rebuild of Village roads is needed.
2011 — Township’s engineer prepares an estimate of cost to fix Village roads; this estimate underlies the petition effort that ultimately failed in late 2013. Estimate includes a rebuild of all Village roads except for the parts of Bradway and Glengarry that were rebuilt in 1999 in the Robert Reid drain project — those areas would get an overlay.
2015 — Township’s engineer prepares a new assessment and estimate, removing Cranbrook and Covington. The new estimate reflects the engineer’s assessment that a full rebuild of all Village roads is needed.
2018 — Village residents request the Road Commission to assess our roads and develop an estimate of the cost to fix them. The Road Commission’s evaluation is the same as the Township engineer’s — the roads need to be rebuilt. After 4 years, in 2022, the Road Commission delivers the first estimate of the cost to rebuild the roads in the Pink section. Blue section estimate follows in March 2023. Gold and Yellow estimates were received in August 2024.
What is the solution now?
Our roads have not gotten better with time, and will not improve in the future. Our roads are 60+ years old, and the potholes, spider-web cracking, deterioration of the pavement all point to the same conclusion - we can’t fix the problem by putting another coat of asphalt on it. The experts have been consistent over the last 10-15 years - to fix the roads, they have to be rebuilt.