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	The Manchester Enterprise A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Hibbard Street renovation on schedule

Construction expected to wrap up in late fall

By Ed Patino, Staff Writer

PUBLISHED: June 14, 2007

Area residents caught a glimpse of the construction project awaiting them later this summer at the Manchester Village Council meeting June 4.

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Mike Darga and Ted Erickson from Tetra-Tech presented the plans for the Hibbard Street reconstruction project to a big crowd of citizens during the meeting.

The project will take an estimated three months to finish. Tetra-Tech is expecting to begin the project near the end of July with a finish date in late fall. Tetra-Tech is expected to bid the project through the Michigan Department of Transportation within the next three weeks.

The village has received funding for the project through state and federal grants amounting to $800,000. The estimated total cost for the project is around $2 million.

According to Darga and Erickson, roadwork will occur one block at a time, beginning with the M-52 to Duncan Street.

Work will then shift between Duncan and Main streets, then Main to Dutch Drive. Only local traffic will be permitted to travel on Hibbard Street during the construction.

The two-lane residential road is being upgraded to a Class A road, meaning trucks will be permitted to carry big loads along Hibbard Street. However, there will be five stop signs along the route that residents hope discourages Hibbard Street from becoming a truck route.

Among the improvements to the road include making three-lane intersections at M-52 and Dutch Drive. In addition, curves along the north end of Hibbard Street will be smoother in order to remove blind spots and poor visibility that are a hindrance. To reduce flooding along the street and residents' property, ditches for sewer drains will also be installed.

Improvements are also being made for pedestrian traffic along Hibbard Street with the creation of a walkway featuring a 3x8 foot retaining wall. According to Tetra-Tech, the wall is a concrete block that will have a decorated face.

Some of the improvements, especially the smoothing of the curves, are being made for the anticipated increase in traffic along Hibbard Street during the M-52 reconstruction slated for next year. The construction is a phase of the project that began with the creation of the new Manchester High School campus. The M-52 construction is slated as the final phase of that project.

Staff Writer Ed Patino can be reached at 428-8173 or epatino@heritage.com.