Milton Township, Cass County Road Commission discuss cost of design, engineering new roundabout

Published 3:04 pm Wednesday, November 18, 2020

MILTON TOWNSHIP—At the regular Milton Township meeting on Tuesday evening, first steps for the roundabout at the Gumwood Road and Redfield Street intersection were mentioned. The township also announced, due to the pandemic orders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued Sunday evening, the township building would be closed for the duration of the order, and meetings would be hosted virtually.

The Cass County Road Commission was granted a Safety Grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation in early November. The amount of the grant is $581,672 to cover construction costs of the roundabout at the intersection of Gumwood Road and Redfield Street.

At the meeting, the CCRC was represented by its Chief Engineer Joe Bellina.

“This was the third year applying for it,” Bellina said of the grant. “We’ll have to get into a conversation about how we cover the cost of design and construction engineering.”

Milton Township Supervisor Eric Renken spoke in favor of the township’s involvement with the construction.

“We need to talk about how Milton Township would help support this. I think we should,” Renken said. “I want to start talking with [Cass] County [officials] on how we are going to fund this.”

Clerk Steve Sante said he remembered the conversations about the roundabout being built at the intersection beginning six years ago.

The intersection’s construction impacts three property owners.

“We have talked to them, before the grant application was submitted three years ago,” Renken said. “I’ve talked to all of them since the grant award. I think they are still in favor of the project. The details would have to be worked out.”

Renken made an official motion at the meeting to allow himself, as supervisor, and another township trustee to begin negotiations with the CCRC. The motion was passed unanimously.

The timeline on the roundabout project will likely stretch into 2022 and 2023 as a projected completed date.