With two heavily traveled bridges in Rochester Hills literally rusting away and falling into the Clinton River, the city is offering cash to fast-track a replacement project.
"That situation is an emergency situation right now," said Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett, who discussed an expedited work plan with the Road Commission for Oakland County at a recent meeting in Rochester Hills. "This has really stepped up when we realized the bridge is going to be reduced as far as its carrying capacity."
About 11,000 vehicles pass through the Livernois and Avon intersection, where the bridges are located, according to data collected in 2009 from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
Both bridges were erected in the early 1960s. The cement on the bridges is deteriorating, allowing water to penetrate to the steel fibers, which are rusting.
"Once it loses its integrity, there's nothing you can do except literally tear it out and replace it," said Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County.
Funding for bridge projects is funneled from the state through a program called the Local Bridge Fund, Bryson said. Regional committees then determine how the money is spent.
This year, the state allocated $5 million for the region that includes Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties. Oakland County estimates it will cost $6 million to replace the two bridges in Rochester Hills.
"There's not enough money to fix all the bridges that need to be fixed -- that's the crux of the problem," Bryson said. "The problem's going to get worse as more and more bridges fall apart and the cost of replacing them goes up."
The Avon bridge wasn't slated for replacement until 2013. But the Rochester Hills City Council is expected to vote Feb. 28 on splitting $250,000 in engineering costs with the county this year -- money the city would not have had to spend -- to try to move the $3-million project up to 2012.
On Friday, the county limited the Avon-Livernois intersection to one lane of traffic in either direction. An inspection Jan. 20 found increased deterioration of the Avon bridge east of Livernois and the Livernois bridge south of Avon.
The right-hand turn lane from westbound Avon to northbound Livernois has been closed for months because the Avon bridge appears to be deteriorating faster.
"We recognize that this will cause a significant disruption of traffic flow in this area and inconvenience residents and businesses," said Brent Blair, the road commission's managing director. "It simply is no longer safe to allow traffic on all lanes of either bridge."
The lane closures are expected to stay in effect at least until the Avon project is complete. The Livernois bridge project, also expected to cost about $3 million, is scheduled for consideration in 2014.