Huron Hub file photo

Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans kicked off the 2016 Road Construction Season during a press conference April 14 at the County’s Central Maintenance Yard in Romulus.  Executive Evans announced the County increased its commitment to fix roads by hiring 50 seasonal employees and purchased 62 pieces of new roads maintenance equipment. In 2016 the County will invest $30 million to complete capital improvement projects that will benefit 21 Wayne County communities.

Surrounded by newly purchased equipment Executive Evans was joined at the press conference by Beverly J. Watts, Interim Director, Department of Public Services (DPS); directors from Wayne County’s roads, equipment and engineering divisions along with some of the recently hired seasonal workers.

“Wayne County is ready for road construction season,” said Executive Evans. “We’ve made smart investments with our limited resources by purchasing new equipment and hiring a qualified and motivated seasonal workforce. Twenty-one of our cities and townships will benefit from the $30 million in capital road improvement projects scheduled for this year. We will also conduct road maintenance in several other communities.”

Executive Evans said the County stretched its federal and state road dollars by prioritizing projects by need and collaborating with communities.  However he added that more resources are needed for infrastructure. This year his administration will host a series of summits with local leaders to identify solutions to reform the local municipal funding system.

During the press conference Wayne County officials said in addition to the capital improvements, they will use more than 36,000 tons of asphalt this season to perform resurfacing repairs on County Primary and Local roads. Road crews will also use more than 6,600 tons of Cold Patching material for potholes.

Executive Evans and his team understand providing exemplary service requires the right equipment and a dedicated workforce. To ensure DPS has the tools to do the work properly, nearly $4 million will be invested before the end of this fiscal year on 62 new pieces of equipment to support road construction activities, including asphalt recyclers, arrow boards, and dump trucks with corrosion resistant stainless steel dump boxes which will increase the life expectancy of the trucks by 20%.

The 2016 Wayne County Road Improvement Program consists of extensive road resurfacing, maintenance and capital road reconstruction projects.  The capital improvement projects are as follows:

Source: Wayne County 

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