As the Washtenaw County Road Commission gets closer to replacing the Willis Road Bridge over the Paint Creek in Augusta Township, the two entities have signed an agreement that will lead to relocating the current sanitary sewers that are on land near the bridge.

“The township owns a sanitary sewer facility located within the existing right-of-way of Willis Road within the proposed project limits of the Willis Road Bridge replacement project,” according to the agreement.

The works consists of replacing the bridge and relocating the existing sanitary sewer from its current location to the northeast quadrant of the bridge.

“The local match for the bridge-related construction costs will be the responsibility of the Road Commission and the local match for the sanitary sewer related construction costs will be the responsibility of Augusta Township,” according to the contract.

Although the sanitary sewers are permitted on the land, they need to be moved for the bridge replacement to take place. The project, which is funded through the Michigan Department of Transportation Local Bridge Program, is scheduled for either this year or in 2013, “provided Federal and State funds are available and all the necessary right of way has been acquired,” the contract states.

The Road Commission has prepared engineering plans for the new bridge over the west fork of Paint Creek, and OHM has designed the sanitary sewer plans.

As part of the agreement, the Road Commission and the township will split the $10,000 costs of acquiring the new location for the sewer lines. So both the township and the Road Commission will pay $5,000 each.

The Road Commission has agreed to “perform the right-of-way acquisition necessary for the sanitary sewer relocation,” the contract reads.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com, who also covers the Washtenaw County Road Commission. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.