Lima Center Bridge and Dancer Road Bridge, two of the four closed bridges over Mill Creek in Lima Township, will soon be repaired and reopened following a unanimous vote Tuesday of the Washtenaw County Road Commission.

“After three years of hard work, hopefully these two bridges will be rebuilt and reopened this calendar year,” said Road Commission Chairman Doug Fuller, referring to three years of discussion on the bridges.

Representatives from the Road Commission and an ad hoc committee of township residents have been meeting about the township's bridges for some time, said Lima Township Supervisor Ken Unterbrink, and these two bridges were chosen following discussions with Chelsea Area Fire Authority Chief Jim Payeur.

“He suggested these two because they have a bigger impact on health and safety for township residents,” Unterbrink said.

Also closed in the township are the Liberty Road Bridge and the Klinger Road Bridge.

Roy Townsend, county highway engineer and director of engineering for the Road Commission, said he hopes to get state and federal funding for the Liberty Road Bridge. Unterbrink said the Klinger Road Bridge would remain closed for now.

The estimated cost for the Dancer Road Bridge is $120,000, while the Lima Center Bridge is expected to cost about $100,000, for a combined cost of $220,000. Included in the work is repair of beam and bridge deck replacement, and road approach improvements, as well as possible abutment repairs.

The township and the Road Commission will split the costs, but with matching funding, it’s expected that the township will pay about $57,000. That amount will be split in three payments over the next three years.

This year, according to the contract, the township will be expected to pay about $19,000.

Unterbrink said he still thinks the Road Commission should pay the total cost for bridge replacement but because of the lack of state funding for bridges during the last eight years, all the township's residents are funding the work.

Of the 16 bridges considered to be in critical condition in Washtenaw County, five are closed — four in Lima Township and one in Sharon Township.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.