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DOWAGIAC — Roads were on the brain Tuesday evening at the Dowagiac City Council meeting.

Meeting virtually, the Dowagiac City Council passed two resolutions pertaining to city roads during its regularly scheduled meeting.

First, the city council approved a resolution to authorize the 2020 local street paving project to Rieth-Riley Construction Company in the amount of $125,829.

This project involves the resurfacing of the following streets:

• Beckwith Street, from Jefferson Street to Third Avenue
• Center Street, from W. Division to Spruce Street
• Clark Street, from Keene Avenue to Gray Street
• Intersection of Oak Street and E. Telegraph Street
• Rudy Road, from E. Prairie Ronde Street to Railroad Spur
• Sheldon Street, from McOmber Street to Louise Street

According to a memo issued by City Manager Kevin Anderson, the project received three bids, with Rieth-Riley, of Kalamazoo, as the low bidder.

The projects, which are estimated to begin in the coming weeks, are rated on a system that takes into consideration the condition of the road, traffic and utility conditions.

“I always look forward to the paving projects,” Anderson said. “Every road we look at always has a great need.”

The second resolution passed Monday was a memo of understanding with the Cass County Road Commission for cost-sharing of the repaving of Pokagon Street/Jefferson Street. The agreement calls for the city share to be 64.2 percent of the local match and the road commission share to be 35.8 percent of the local match. The project, which is in the Michigan Department of Transportation’s 2021 funding cycle, will cost a total of $468,750. Of that, $375,000 will come from MDOT, $60,187.50 will come from the city of Dowagiac and $33,562.50 will come from the Cass County Road Commission. The cost-sharing formula was based on the number of miles of streets.

The Michigan Department of Transportation allocates money to small urban areas that must be used on major roads identified in planning documents. The Dowagiac area includes some streets under the city’s jurisdiction and some streets under the Cass County Road Commission’s

jurisdiction. Occasionally, a project like the repaving of Pokagon  Street/Jefferson Avenue from M-51 to Cass Avenue overlaps both jurisdictions, Anderson wrote in a memo to city council members.

“When that happens, a cost-sharing agreement is needed,” he said.

Both resolutions were passed unanimously.