On Conant, it’s not repaving but the next best thing

A Wayne County work crew repairs some of the worst sections of Conant, which is a county-owned road. In the meantime, city officials are still seeking the total repaving of Conant.

A Wayne County work crew repairs some of the worst sections of Conant, which is a county-owned road. In the meantime, city officials are still seeking the total repaving of Conant.

 

 

By Charles Sercombe
For the past several years city officials have been trying to get Wayne County to take care of Conant.
The county-owned road has become a series of potholes and temporary patches.
City officials have pleaded to get the road repaved, but county officials say Conant is way down on the list of county-owned roads that need repaving.
Now, however, Hamtramck got the next best deal: In the past few weeks a county road crew has been milling down the worst sections of Conant and laying down new asphalt.
How did that come about?
City Manager Katrina Powell said that she has been lobbying county officials since she got here over six months ago.
“Relationships build roads and bridges; the staff and I work diligently in building those relationships with the county, and various contractors that work in our community, to achieve the goal of bettering Hamtramck, one step and relationship at a time,” Powell said in an email response about the county’s action.
Strangely, it was just two years ago that the county repaved Conant from 7 Mile to the very edge of Hamtramck’s border. Why did it stop there?
Former Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano told The Review in an interview before he lost his re-election bid that because Conant borders both Hamtramck and Detroit from Carpenter to the county jail, it would require Detroit officials to agree to the repaving.
Apparently, getting Hamtramck and Detroit officials on the same page is too complex — even for a county executive.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *