Rochester Hills drivers have been waiting, and waiting, for the Avon bridge over the Clinton River just east of Livernois to be fixed so lane restrictions could be lifted. The time has finally arrived, but be prepared to avoid the area for the next several months.
“For months and months and probably years, the Avon bridge has seemed like a mirage,” Mayor Bryan Barnett said Monday as he announced that work to replace the bridge is scheduled to start Feb. 1. Because the bridge is coming down, that section of roadway will be closed through approximately June 15.
“There will be some considerable traffic changes,” Barnett said.
The Road Commission for Oakland County will remove the old bridge and replace it with a pre-stressed concrete bridge of the same five lanes as the existing bridge. The project will include repaving the approaches to the bridge, placement of new guardrails and relocation of a water main.
The budget is $2.6 million. A Michigan Local Bridge Program grant will cover $2.5 million; the road commission will cover the balance. The city will kick in $32,000 for the installation of decorative lighting, handrails and pathway. The new bridge is expected to open by June 15, with the project completed by mid-July.
Several other projects will probably complicate driving around greater Rochester this summer. A major repaving of Main Street (Rochester Road) through downtown Rochester is scheduled to begin in April. Crooks Road is scheduled to be widened to five lanes from Starr-Batt Drive to Hamlin, including a center left-turn lane, curbs, storm sewers and filling pathway gaps.
The Crooks project is scheduled to start this summer and finish in the fall. The road will close during portions of the project, but the road commission said that won’t happen until Avon is reopened.
Click on the link to see a map of the detour: AVON ROAD BRIDGE DETOUR
