Construction Season

Being home over the holiday weekend reminded me of something you often hear about Michigan: the state has two seasons - Winter and Construction. The state is in the midst of construction season, and an especially active season thanks to the funding made available by the Recovery Act. The Recovery Act made available $847 million for transportation projects across the state. And while the orange barrels can be a hassle, the road improvements and the construction work are very welcome.

Just last week road crews reached the halfway point of a major project to widen M-59 to six lanes between Crooks and Ryan. The project is creating or sustaining 1,700 jobs and is being completed a decade before it might have been without Recovery Act funds, according to the Federal Highway Administrator.

M-59 is just one of 507 highway projects under way in Michigan right now. I am tracking the highway funding in the 12th district along with other Recovery Act projects on my web page.

The work on M-59 is expected to be completed in mid-November - just in time for the start of Michigan's other season.