Construction Update 5/31/24

May 31, 2024

Dear Village residents,

Construction began in earnest on Tuesday, with the first shovels going into the ground on Burning Bush in the Blue section and Glenhurst in the Pink section. We are providing this (lengthy) construction update to the whole Village email list, so those outside of the Pink and Blue sections will have an understanding of elements that may impact them as they drive/walk through the neighborhood.

Soil erosion controls (or why is there water back-up on the street after a heavy rain?)

The black fabric placed under storm drain and manhole covers in the Pink and Blue sections is a soil erosion control bag, with the purpose of allowing only water to flow into the sewer system. We have a combined sanitary and storm sewage system through most of the Village; it is critical for our homes (as well as those downstream from us) to keep debris from entering the sewer and causing backups. Each soil erosion control bag extends down below the grate to hold accumulated silt/debris. The bags do get full and will be replaced during the project as necessary.

Water does flow through the soil erosion control fabric, but not as quickly as it would without them. This means that water will back up into the street in a heavy rain (like we had on Sunday). The flooding will recede over time, as the water flows through the fabric. It is critical that the soil erosion controls not be moved, punctured or damaged to avoid silt, dirt and debris flowing into our sewer system.

Signage and traffic

Construction signage has been placed in the right of way throughout the Village to alert drivers that they are entering/exiting a construction zone. Please leave the signs in place until they are removed by the Road Commission, even if there is no work currently being conducted on a specific street. This is for the safety of the construction crews as well as drivers and pedestrians in the work zones.

When the construction crews are actively working on a street, there will be times when the street will be temporarily blocked. Similarly, there may be times when individual residents are blocked in their driveways for short periods, during work directly in front of their homes. The contractors have placed flaggers along the streets to help guide traffic. You may want to allow extra time if the crew is active on your street.

Please, please, please, slow down and allow plenty of room between your vehicle and the construction crews and equipment. The equipment operators cannot hear your vehicle coming and often have significant blind spots. At the Annual Meeting last week, Township Police Chief James Gallagher and Village PD Sargeant Steve Cook made it very clear that traffic enforcement will be tight in the construction zones - even residents will be ticketed. Posted speeds may be 25 mph on our streets, but that is too fast in a construction zone, especially when you are just a few feet away from the workers and equipment in operation. Note that traffic fines and points are much higher in construction zones.

Portable toilets

The contractor is required by law to provide portable toilets for the construction crews. Locations for the toilets were determined by the contractor to facilitate the efficiency of the project - workers leaving their equipment to walk several blocks to use the toilet create downtime for the project. Strategically located toilets reduce downtime and make for greater efficiency.

Irrigation systems

Sprinkler heads located in the right of way will be moved back by the contractor to make way for curbs and edge drains to be laid in the Pink and Blue sections. Please assist the contractor by marking your sprinkler heads with paint, flags, sticks, etc. This will help them avoid damaging your sprinkler heads/system as much as possible. If your right-of-way sprinkler heads are part of a larger zone, you will want to have your sprinkler company cap off the section in the right of way such that no water flows into that area. Alternatively, you can turn off the entire zone. At the end of the project, the right of way area impacted by construction will be restored with new sod to replace that damaged by the project.

If your sprinkler heads were damaged by the recent Township sidewalk project, please contact Mark Hendricks at Bloomfield Township, 248-200-6814, as soon as possible to arrange for the sidewalk contractor to fix them. Remediation of sprinkler damage is included in the contracted amount for the sidewalk project and needs to be paid out of that project budget. Please do not wait until the Roads project is completed in the fall to have the sprinkler heads fixed if they were damaged by the sidewalk work.

Road project work hours

As a reminder, the contractors have authorization from Bloomfield Township to work Monday through Saturday, 7 am to 7 pm. There may be times later in the project when those work hours are extended. We will notify residents of those changes when/if they occur.

Construction updates on the website

Construction updates are provided through blog posts on the Roads website at www.VillageRoads.org. Please check the website daily if you are in the Pink or Blue section. We are trying to limit emails to one per week to spare inboxes. Blog posts can be reached HERE. New blog posts for the Pink and Blue sections will be posted on the website this afternoon.

Road Commission contact info

Mark Meszler or Christina Jaenisch of the Road Commission will be the points of contact for residents throughout the Roads project. Mark is best reached by calling his cell phone 248-763-9502 or office phone 248-645-2000 x2257 or via email at mmeszler@rcoc.org. Christina can be reached at 248-365-8036 or cjaenisch@rcoc.org. Please don't send text messages -- either call or email.