Deadline looms for Holbrook project, and it doesn’t look good

The Holbrook repaving project is now active again after union workers and the contractors they work for settled a labor dispute that lasted for three weeks.

The Holbrook repaving project is now active again after union workers and the contractors they work for settled a labor dispute that lasted for three weeks.

 
By Charles Sercombe
The pressure is on to get the job done on Holbrook.
The good news is that union workers and contractors have settled their labor dispute, or at least some of it, and work has resumed.
The bad news is that they lost three weeks’ worth of work, and they have a Nov. 15 deadline to complete the Holbrook repaving project.
So far, they are not even halfway done.
Holbrook was supposed to be repaved from Jos. Campau to Conant by mid-November. That’s what the contract called for.
The project is being overseen by the Michigan Department of Transportation, and there is no word on what will happen if the job is not completed.
However, City Manager Kathy Angerer said she got a promise that at the very least Holbrook will be open for traffic by then.
As of now, only eastbound traffic is open from Mitchell to Gallagher.
“We demanded that they get as much done so we can re-open it,” Angerer said.
The project, costing $1 million, is being funded through the federal government – although the city had to kick in 20 percent of the cost out of its yearly street repair fund.
Included in the project is the replacement of water and sewer lines.
Road construction cannot continue much past November since colder weather prevents the pouring of cement.

Oct. 5, 2018

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