Huron River Drive near the Washtenaw Community College campus will get right and left turn lanes later this year in conjunction with a new parking garage.

The Washtenaw County Road Commission approved an agreement with WCC on Tuesday afternoon that includes a center left turn lane for northbound traffic to access the college’s driveway across from the emergency entrance to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Also, right turn lanes will be constructed in the area.

The WCC driveway will be reconfigured with an island to restrict outbound traffic to right turns only, and another island will allow only right turns in and out of the emergency driveway at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Currently, traffic is allowed to turn both ways.

Plus, an existing pedestrian tunnel under Huron River Drive will be removed.

The changes are a result of a traffic study completed in July 2010 by Washtenaw Engineering.

The college plans to build a 470-space parking structure on the campus and also is paying for the $200,000 in road improvements. The garage will be located behind the Morris Lawrence and Occupational Education buildings.

“We were hopeful that we’d get a three-party agreement,” (for the road improvements) said Roy Townsend, director of engineering for the Road Commission. “We’d hoped they’d (WCC and the hospital) would split the cost; St. Joe’s agreed to participate, but not to contribute any money.”

WCC will have two driveways with signals for left turns out of its campus.

A report from Townsend acknowledged the work will cause traffic headaches for motorists and residents in the area. “However, they will receive long-term safety and operational benefits from the improvements,” the report states.

The Road Commission had at one point proposed a roundabout for the intersection, but the college rejected that as too expensive.

In other business Tuesday, the Road Commission approved a request from residents in the Uplands of Scio Ridge in Scio Township that will begin the process of setting up a special assessment district to collect about $550,000 for the rehabilitation of about 1.29 miles of roads in the subdivision.

View Huron River Drive improvements in a larger map

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for Annarbor.com and can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.