Miller Road Rehabilitation

The Project
The City of Flint hired Spalding DeDecker (SD) to provide engineering design and construction engineering and inspection services for the resurfacing of Miller Road from Hammerberg Road to Ballenger Highway, including ADA sidewalk improvements. The existing roadway consists of four travel lanes of HMA pavement with overlaid curb and gutter.  The project includes milling and resurfacing HMA over the existing concrete, water main replacement, storm sewer repairs, ADA sidewalk improvements, and a road diet. The road cross-section of Miller Road will be a three-lane section with one lane in each direction, dual left center turn lane, and bike lanes.

The project initially included a design to replace and up-size the water main for the entire length of the project. Ultimately, anticipated funding for the water main did not materialize and the water main was removed from the project. The contingent nature of the funding was known and SD set up the plans in a way to reduce rework and streamline last minute changes in CADD.

The Challenge
Miller Road is a National Highway System (NHS) route that carries around 9,000 vehicles per day. It serves as a major east/west thoroughfare for trucks and is a vital residential corridor.  Any changes to this corridor can cause disruptions to the traffic patterns and have a ripple effect to the surrounding roadways.  A solid maintenance of traffic plan involves a balance of maintaining constructability while limiting the disruption to traffic movement. A virtual public meeting was held to accommodate restrictions from COVID as part of the road diet design process. SD staff gave a prepared presentation several times to accommodate the “virtual” arrival of the public. Over an hour of time was spent answering individual questions through the video call format and through video chat to ensure the public had been thoroughly engaged. The houses in the neighborhood along the project date back to the early 20th century and included historical elements of landscaping and other features. SD ensured that the design of each of the new ADA ramps met the strict requirements of ADA and did not impact or harm the historical character of the neighborhood. SD coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Office along the way to keep the design process moving.

The Solution
SD worked on an accelerated timeline to ensure construction occurred early in the year and didn’t impact the famous Crim races, which included Miller Road as part of the race course.  Miller Road will be a  balanced multi-modal roadway. SD also optimized the project budget to accommodate the deteriorated catch basins and storm sewer leads.