Last phase of Caniff repaving will have to wait for next year

Workers are finishing up the repaving of Caniff from Jos. Campau to Gallagher before cold weather settles in. The next portion of Caniff to be repaved, from Gallagher to Conant, will be delayed until next spring.

By Charles Sercombe
There’s good news/bad news about the final leg of repaving Caniff.
The good news is that the current portion, from Jos. Campau to Gallagher, will soon be completed and open for traffic within the next two weeks (or so).
But the bad news is that the next phase to be repaved, from Gallagher to Conant, will be delayed until next spring, or whenever warmer weather returns.
Why?
Old Man Winter is bearing down, meaning it will be too cold to pour cement in the coming weeks.
“There is good cause to close the next phase in its entirety,” said City Manager Max Garbarino, at a recent city council meeting.
Department of Public Services Director John DeAngelis also said that there are complications.
He said the next portion of Caniff has a two-and-a-half foot elevation difference, which he said has posed a serious risk to drivers for many years.
“I’m surprised nobody’s been killed yet,” he said.
That portion of Caniff has asphalt underneath the concrete. The reason for that is unknown.
Also, that part poses another obstacle because the sewer lines that cross the street take odd angles, again for reasons unknown.
DeAngelis also said that the council’s wish to keep one lane open during the repaving process is not possible because that poses a risk of injuring construction workers who may get hit by passing cars.
This final part of Caniff being repaved was supposed to start in the early summer/spring. But something curious and unexpected popped up.
The delay was caused by the state’s Historic Preservation Office, which had to review whether any of the historic buildings in the area would be damaged in the repaving process.
John Hennessey, of Hennessy Engineers, who has been supervising the project, said Hamtramck wasn’t alone in experiencing a delay, as a number of other projects in the state also had to put on the brakes.
In all, the cost to repave Caniff from I-75 to Buffalo is about $6 million. During this re-paving, water and sewer lines were also replaced. The project has spanned over three years, being done in phases.
This is the first time Caniff has undergone major renovation, and it’s unknown when the street was last repaved prior to this.
This project has been occurring alongside an aggressive campaign by the city to repave numerous alleys over the past several years.
A number of residents and business owners have complained about the many other road construction projects happening throughout the city, causing traffic headaches.
There’s not much the city can do about those, because that work is being done for the utility giant, DTE.
Posted Dec. 6, 2024