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Posted on Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 2:57 p.m.

Preparation begins for $3.16M reconstruction of Madison Street in Old West Side

By Ryan J. Stanton

Madison_Street_060613_RJS_003.jpg

Preparation work for a $3.16 million reconstruction of Madison Street — one of Ann Arbor's most tattered roads and a major east-west drag through the Old West Side — has begun.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Preparation work for a $3.16 million reconstruction of Madison Street — one of Ann Arbor's most tattered roads and a major east-west drag through the Old West Side — has begun.

One of the westbound lanes just west of Main Street was closed on Thursday as orange traffic cones designated a makeshift two-way street in the eastbound lanes.

Crews from Corby Energy Services Inc. of Belleville and DTE Energy were on site, using tools to cut through the pavement to do underground utility work. A supervisor for Corby Energy said they'd be out working along Madison Street for the next two weeks.

The overall $3.16 million road construction project is scheduled to begin either later this month or early July and is expected to be completed in November.

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Crews from Corby Energy Services Inc. of Belleville and DTE Energy were on site, using tools to cut through the pavement to do underground utility work. A supervisor for Corby Energy said they'd be out working along Madison Street for the next two weeks.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

The Ann Arbor City Council this week approved a $2.28 million construction contract with Pamar Enterprises Inc. of New Haven as part of the project. Pamar plans to subcontract some of the work to Doan Construction and Barrett Paving Materials, both based in Ypsilanti.

Nick Hutchinson, interim manager of the city's project management unit, said Madison Street from Seventh to Main is in need of several improvements — the pavement is in a poor condition and in need of repaving, and the existing water main is old and undersized.

The project will replace the existing 6-inch water main with new 8-inch and 12-inch ductile iron water mains, and full reconstruction of the street will follow.

Stormwater management features are included in the project, including rain gardens and upsized storm sewer pipes to improve stormwater quality and reduce and delay flows into Allen Creek.

In addition to underground utility work and resurfacing of the road, pedestrian and bicycle improvements are major components of the project.

The project includes the addition of a designated bicycle lane along the north side of Madison Street, and provisions for curb "bump-outs" along the south side to better delineate parking, provide an area for the rain gardens and also allow for shortened crosswalks.

The removal and replacement of concrete curb and gutter, sidewalk ramps, driveway approaches, and some sidewalk repair is being done as needed.

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A pedestrian pushing a stroller crosses Madison Street on Thursday. A city worker was out doing a head count of the number of pedestrians and bicyclists passing through the area to be compared later with the number after the improvements, including bike lanes and better pedestrian crossings, are made.

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Eli Cooper, the city's transportation program manager, said the Madison Street project is a good example of one of the ways Ann Arbor's nonmotorized transportation system is provided.

"Although the city has an alternative transportation fund to support our nonmotorized system, we also include nonmotorized elements in our street projects as appropriate and planned," he said, noting Ann Arbor prides itself on being a "complete streets" community.

"So, looking through that lens, this project adds another mile of bike lane to our ever-growing system," he said. "It expands and connects the nonmotorized system, linking the existing lanes on Seventh to those in downtown.

"It is wonderful to see that not only do we have resources dedicated to non-motorized improvement, but we include these important means of transportation as a fundamental part of our projects."

The project is being funded by the city's water fund ($455,000), street resurfacing millage ($1.73 million), and the stormwater maintenance fund ($980,000), the latter of which will be repaid as a loan to the state's revolving fund. It's anticipated the city will receive 50 percent loan forgiveness.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.

Comments

Sam S Smith

Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 1:10 a.m.

I hope that the city won't be fixing a major road near it. If so, best to fix the major road if Madison is going to be used for the big trucks. Just found out that big trucks that tore up Hatcher Crescent will once again be going down this street as Miller is being repaired. Hatcher Crescent was repaired last year after being destroyed by big trucks and it's nice now but when those big heavy trucks go down it for the Miller Road repair it won't last long. Why didn't the city fix Hatcher Crescent after the Miller Road repair? What a waste of taxes if Hatcher Crescent gets ruined again!

JRW

Fri, Jun 7, 2013 : 12:31 a.m.

Well, at least one street among hundreds will be fixed. That will take care of maybe a hundred or so potholes. Only 39,900 potholes to go.

Vince Caruso

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 11:48 p.m.

Thanks for covering this project. A very innovative approach taken on this street, not mentioned, is the use of a large rock bed below the street, in some sections, to capture and infiltrate fresh rain water (stromwater) which will reduce pollution, flooding and is said by staff to be potentially less expensive than the big pipes which need lots of expensive maintenance. In these sections very little if any water will leave the area! This may be used on many more streets. This is part of a new effort to create' Green Streets' (grew out of the city staff and Environ. Comm.-Water Committee efforts) to change how we manage rain water off our streets. We now have several porous streets and parking lots with similar rock beds for the same reason. With record rain events in and around Ann Arbor we need to move to these new methods to protect the community and the environment.

Michael Rodemer

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 9:26 p.m.

I'd hoped to read that fibre optic cables were being laid to increase internet bandwidth...

A2Westsider

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 8:24 p.m.

Thanks goodness, Madison is the WORST end to end.

treetowncartel

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 8:20 p.m.

I'm assuming the contractor is being forced to use equipment and machinery in use at the time the neighborhood was established, and then needed to get approval from the historic district.

noreaster

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.

I can live with the work - since I can still get to the most important place in the neighborhood: Washtenaw Dairy.

aabikes

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 7:41 p.m.

I used to bike on this road all the time, but it ultimately became unbearable. Very much looking forward to including it in my rides again, especially with the addition of bike lanes!

Ryan J. Stanton

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 7:55 p.m.

I recently moved into this neighborhood and I'm looking forward to having a smoother road as well! The pedestrian and bicycle improvements are a nice added touch, and it will be nice to know the water pumping to my house is traveling through newer pipes. Now if the city can just put Fifth Street and Jefferson Street on its radar. They're both pretty bad.

Ryan J. Stanton

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 7:15 p.m.

A few links of interest ... -- Project website: http://tinyurl.com/n6yuy3w -- Traffic control plan: www.annarbor.com/Madison_detours_2013.pdf -- What the bump-outs/crosswalks might look like: www.annarbor.com/Madison_bumpouts_2013.pdf The city says this about traffic control: "The construction is planned to be in three staged sections. Within each section under construction, traffic will be limited to one?way westbound, with only local and emergency traffic permitted. Thru traffic will be detoured via S. Seventh, Pauline Blvd. and S. Main St. For the two sections without construction, two?way local traffic will be permitted."

Greg M

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.

The crosswalk cleanup / bumpouts look nice - it seems like they let pedestrians walk out even with the row of parked cars on the south side of the road. For some reason (maybe the incline plus parking?) with the current road it's really hard to see oncoming cars when trying to cross W Madison while going north, from around First through Fifth.

GratefulReb

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 7:11 p.m.

Thank goodness.

Buckybeaver

Thu, Jun 6, 2013 : 8:39 p.m.

Honey, goodness had nothing to do with it.