Ann Arbor-Saline Road resurfacing project will move ahead in 2013 after winning $373K state grant

A total of $372,960 in state grant funding is being awarded for the resurfacing of a crumbling section of Ann Arbor-Saline Road near Interstate 94.

The portion of roadway local officials hope to see resurfaced next year extends from Eisenhower Parkway to roughly 1,000 feet south of the highway.

The city of Ann Arbor — along with the Washtenaw County Road Commission and Michigan Department of Transportation — began planning the multi-jurisdictional project last year.

The Road Commission has been leading the process and applied for funding from the state's Transportation Economic Development Fund.

In a news release announcing the TEDF grant award this week, MDOT said $372,960 in state funding will be going toward what it characterized as a $674,600 project. But officials from the city and the Road Commission say the project is going to cost more than that.

Homayoon Pirooz

Homayoon Pirooz, head of the city's project management unit, said the preliminary project cost estimate is $800,000 to $850,000.

Depending on the actual construction bid prices, the city's share might be about $200,000 and the Road Commission's share might be about $250,000, Pirooz said.

The Road Commission likely will lead the construction effort and will probably have better estimates later in the year, Pirooz said.

Typical road resurfacing projects begin in May. If all goes well, May 2013 would be a reasonable start date, Pirooz said.

State Rep. Rick Olson, R-York Township, celebrated the funding announcement this week and reiterated he'll be sponsoring legislation to raise new revenue for roads in Michigan.

"It is great news to hear that our county will be getting a bit of extra funds to improve our roads," Olson said. "Meanwhile, we will be working on getting in place a more permanent flow of funds with the 13-bill package of bills which will be introduced this week designed to generate a total of $1.4 billion more road and bridge funding statewide."

According to the MDOT announcement, the Road Commission and the city of Ann Arbor will resurface Ann Arbor-Saline Road from 345 feet north of Oak Valley Drive to Eisenhower Parkway, which it called an "important commercial corridor."

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.