WARREN, Mich. – A major construction project being discussed by Warren officials would close Mound Road for 18 miles between I-696 and Hall Road.
County and city leaders are pushing for the project, which would clean up areas of Mount Road that are littered with potholes.
A stakeholder's meeting was held Thursday for officials to discuss how to pull the project off. The idea is to not repave, but to entirely reconstruct Mound Road from I-696 to Hall Road. It's about 9 miles one way between the interstate and Hall Road, so collectively the project will cover 18 miles of roadway.
The estimated cost of the project is around $150 million.
Business owners in the area said the project is necessary, because they're trying to attract business and customers and retain what Mound Road has to offer. They said this project could help the economy go through a boost.
Who would pay for the project? City leaders hoped the federal government would pay for most of the project, and County Executive Mark Hackel had an idea.
"You've got the business sector here, and you've got some pretty prominent, key players that understand how to connect with those that are public officials that make these decisions that can part with that funding," Hackel said. "We want to leverage that. It's not just about me calling somebody up in Washington, saying, you know, 'Hey, senator, hey, congressperson, we need this.' Sometimes, you've got business people pushing the pressure on it, explaining the interest they have with wanting the business here, rather than relocating it someplace else."
This is just the beginning of the process. Officials are hoping to secure the money in 2017 and hope to be awarded grants in 2018.
They hope construction would begin in 2020 and end in 2022.
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