By Michael Piwowarski
SAGINAW – Niagara Street is about to get torn up.
The Saginaw city council approved an agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Monday, Feb. 17, to reconstruct a portion of the deteriorating road from the railroad track northward to East Genesee – a half-mile stretch.
City manager Tim Morales told the Collegiate that this has been in the city’s long-term plans for a while. This project is not part of MDOT’s five-year transportation plan announced Jan. 27, although the city will receive a large chunk of federal funding.
Morales says that Niagara has suffered road damage, partly due to truck traffic.
“We have received over the years a number of complaints by people who drive through there, but there is a lot of heavy truck use,” says Morales.
Rifkin, a scrap iron company in Saginaw, was formerly located on Niagara Street before moving to Washington Avenue in 2019, which reduced the amount of truck traffic on Niagara.
Niagara has already undergone renovations north of the current proposed work area, from East Genesee northward to Johnson Street.
“So it’s kind of an extension of that project,” says Morales. “I assume that the public services department will move along through their other prioritized [road] projects.”
The estimated project cost is $1,400,300, with the biggest chunk of money – $1.3 million – going toward hot mix asphalt surfacing work, curb, sidewalk, signage and road markings. $92,900 would go toward water main construction.
Saginaw’s total cost obligation is $446,300, with $954,000 coming from Federal Surface Transportation Urban Local funds.
Funds will be included in the 2021 fiscal year budget, as part of the 2021 major street fund.
At this time, the city of Saginaw has no exact timeframe on when road work will begin, although it’s expected to happen in the late spring or early summer months.
