CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A bridge crossing in Clinton Township is sparking a larger conversation about local road funding and infrastructure management. One resident is raising concerns about pedestrian safety at the bridge, which is in poor condition, at the intersection of Heydenreich and Dunham.
Watch Christiana Ford's video report:
The sidewalk ends on Dunham before reaching the bridge, forcing pedestrians and cyclists to compete with ongoing traffic.
"A lot of people have avoided this because it's so dangerous," said Joann Cuschieri, who has lived in Clinton Township for more than 25 years.
Cuschieri, who lives nearby, crosses the bridge nearly every day, carefully navigating through traffic on the roadway.
"When you walk, you've gotta walk in the street as you saw me doing so, and sometimes I've seen aggressive drivers," Cuschieri said.
The intersection has stop signs for north and south traffic on Heydenreich, but none for east-west traffic on Dunham. Most concerning to Cuschieri is the risk and potential danger.
"My thing is it's easy to get hit, right here as they turn," she said.
Cuschieri has been requesting improvements from the township and the Macomb County Department of Roads since 2022, but solutions have been slow to materialize.
The bridge is listed in poor condition, but isn't on the list of upcoming projects. According to the Macomb County Department of Roads, the issue comes down to funding.
The Department of Roads takes a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing Macomb County’s road, bridge, and transportation network, planning projects and allocating resources based on data, conditions, and community needs. Funding for local roads and bridges remains our single greatest challenge.
There isn’t a road or bridge we can’t fix if we have the necessary funding.
In Macomb County, we need more than $2.5 billion to fix all of the roads and bridges that are currently rated in poor condition. The Department of Roads continues to work diligently to secure long-term funding solutions for local transportation infrastructure in Macomb County.
We remain hopeful that our state lawmakers will pass legislation that will provide additional and sustainable funding for the comprehensive and long-term repairs our local roads and bridges need.
Clinton Township Trustee Shannon King says this is just one example of infrastructure challenges facing the township as they compete for prioritization in road funding from the county.
"They certainly are partnering with us and working with us as we can, but they're stretched. They're a stretched resource right now, and they're doing everything they can across the county to be able to work with aging infrastructure roads such as ours. And so there's not enough money coming into that funnel," King said.
The funding challenges have led King to propose that Clinton Township become a city, which would give local officials more control over road funds and infrastructure decisions.
"It's not a panacea by any means. It's not going to be something that's not going to be without issue, but I think it allows us to be able to take steps forward in addition to doing continuing state advocacy to take the steps forward that is necessary for us to be able to own the roads and be able to see some progress and movement that I think our residents are looking for," King said.
King feels it's past time to get creative about solutions.
"We continue to keep doing some of the same things, and we're expecting different results, and at some point, we've got to say,hey,how do we evaluate things and do things a little bit differently?" says King.
The complex web of responsibility for infrastructure in the area involves multiple agencies: public roads fall under Macomb County Department of Roads jurisdiction, culverts and bridges are managed by Macomb County Public Works, while sidewalks are Clinton Township's responsibility.
We are working hard to expand pedestrian access and the overall walkability of our community, but need to do so in the most cost-effective way possible.
All of the public roads in our community are under the jurisdiction of the Macomb County Department of Roads, and the large culverts that support these roads over drains are under the jurisdiction of the Macomb County Public Works office.
Proper Asset Management dictates that we expand pedestrian walkways on the same schedule as when county agencies are initiating road repairs and culverts are being evaluated. Clinton Township not only pays to support these road projects and culvert replacements but also pays the full cost of extending the culverts to accommodate sidewalks and trails.
Gieleghem says because all three branches of the Clinton River meet in Clinton Township, there are a lot of roadways and bridges over the branches and the county drains that carry the rainwater run-off from our community and others as far away as Almont and Clarkston.
He feels the state road funding system, PA 51 of 1951, is broken and created a presentation to try to explain the process and challenges to residents.
Presentation on Road Funding. Click on the Green Street sign at: https://www.clintontownship.com/478/Establishing-Quality-Roads
Video Series: https://www.clintontownship.com/501/Establishing-Quality-Roads-Video-Series
The county department recently completed rehabilitation work on Dunham Road in 2022 and 2023 and says they will continue to work with the township on ongoing projects.
Costs are shared between the township and county.
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