About 70 people attended a special road project meeting June 7 at Clearwater Township Hall.
It was one of the most well-attended meetings in recent years, and residents were there to discuss how the township would set long-term priorities and how it would allocate its dollars to pay for the projects.
The biggest reason for the large attendance was a flyer that was distributed throughout the township prior to the meeting, urging residents to give their input.
The flyer concluded with, “Do not allow a few select people to determine the fate of our roads. They are only concerned about their road. This may very well be your last chance to influence the board’s decision. They want to hear from you!’
That had a significant impact on the number of people and their input, and for two hours, residents and members of the board spoke about a number of potential projects.
The biggest and most expensive project involves extensive work on 150th Street from Grover Ave. to Ferman Ave. Although there aren’t many residents on the road itself, it has become a pass-through corridor for people driving from Hwy. 24 to the Hasty I-94 Interchange. The road count is 204 vehicles per day.
The road is prone to frost boils and needs extensive slope grading. Part of the project requires wetland mitigation. The estimated cost of the project is $700,000 and could take four to five years to complete.
The township is already in the process of working on a section of 150th Street west of Grover Ave. and is waiting for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers
Another project is paving or chip sealing Elder Ave. and 160th Street. Residents along the corridor and in the Mississippi Oaks development signed a petition to chip seal the road, with 50 people in favor and 19 either against or not present to sign. Based on the cost of other chip-sealing work, the project has been estimated at over $220,000, plus road preparation.
Since Elder Ave. is a shared road with Silver Creek Twp., it would be a joint project. The board set up another meeting with Silver Creek to discuss the cost and timing of road preparation if they decided to move forward with the project.
Other potential projects on the short or long-range list included culvert replacement and in-slope upgrades on Huber Ave. west of Co. Rd. 7; ditch work on 163rd Street in Ray’s Addition prior to chip-sealing; realignment and ditch improvements on Grover Ave., 155th Street and the intersection at 150th Street; inslope upgrades on the west side of Huber Ave. between 145th Street and 150th Street.
The board made no decisions at the special meeting, but brought up some of the road projects at the June 12 regular monthly meeting.
At that meeting, the board voted to allocate up to $15,000 for preliminary engineering for the 150th Street project, contingent on Silver Creek agreeing to proceed.
The board approved improvements to Huber Ave. west of Co. Rd. 7 and Huber Ave. at 150th Street contingent on DNR and county approval. The board also voted to get quotes for chip-sealing 163rd Street and the “loop” in Ray’s Addition, but not the dead-end roads.
Further discussion on the 150th Street project and the Elder Ave. project were slated for the joint meeting with Silver Creek.
