Veterans Drive Reconstruction Starts July 22; More City Projects on Deck

The City of Traverse City will kick off a major reconstruction project on Veterans Drive on July 22, which will close the road to through traffic until October. The Ticker has the latest on that and other project work, including the Grandview Parkway reconstruction, upcoming maintenance projects on Lot C and the TART Trail, and pipe replacement work in city neighborhoods.

Veterans Drive
Contractor M&M Excavating – working on behalf of the City of Traverse City – will begin reconstructing Veterans Drive between Fourteenth Street and the city limits (just south of Fairlane Drive) on July 22. Through traffic for all of Veterans Drive will be detoured using Fourteenth Street, Cass Street, and South Airport Road during construction. Access to residences and businesses along Veterans Drive will be maintained.

Work will include removing the pavement, underlying concrete, certain sidewalks, and sections of curb for water service replacement. A new aggregate base and asphalt wearing surface will be installed. The roadway will be striped for 10-foot travel lanes, special emphasis crosswalk markings, 6-7-foot bike lanes, and bike shields extending to the city limits. Curbs and sidewalks will be removed at intersections to create bulb-outs on side streets, “reducing pedestrian crossing exposure and promote traffic calming,” according to a city release. A new sidewalk will be installed along the west side of Veterans Drive from Fourteenth to Boughey, including a new crossing.

Other infrastructure work is planned, including a new water main that will be installed along the center line of the existing roadway at a depth of six feet. The existing water main will be capped and abandoned in place. New leaching catch basins and dry wells “will be added at low points and intersections to promote groundwater recharge and reduce the amount of stormwater runoff entering surface waters,” according to the city.

The reconstruction project – which is expected to be complete in mid-October, weather permitting – was selected to receive funding support from the new regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Federal and state dollars will contribute $1,127,594 to the project. The city will contribute $682,646.89 from the road fund, $466,030 from the water fund, and a 10 percent contingency of $212,627.09. In addition, the city must cover field management and construction testing – at a cost of $116,595 – to qualify for federal funding.

“We are pleased to begin the much-needed reconstruction of Veterans Drive, incorporating improved stormwater solutions and enhanced mobility features,” City Engineer Anne Pagano said in a statement. “We are grateful that our MPO status has enabled the city to secure the necessary funding for this important project.”

Grandview Parkway
Crews are wrapping up their first week of work on Segment 2 of the East Front Street/Grandview Parkway construction, with workers on-site 24/7 Monday through Friday. As work continues this week on Grandview Parkway between East Front Street and Division Street, one lane each of eastbound and westbound traffic will remain open on the north side of the road while crews reconstruct the south side. Traffic is expected to shift to the south side of the road to allow north side reconstruction after Labor Day. The intersection at East Front/Grandview Parkway will be closed until approximately mid-August.

City commissioners will vote Monday on waiving the competitive bidding process to execute an agreement with Team Elmer’s for $451,481 to repair and replace the irrigation system along Grandview Parkway from Division Street to Sunset Park. According to a memo from Pagano, the road reconstruction will require the removal of the entire existing irrigation system in the corridor. “The pipe, heads, and control boxes for this irrigation system will no longer be usable...the area affected is not only the landscaping in the right-of-way but also park areas due to the interconnectivity of all the city parkland in this area,” she said.

Areas served by the irrigation system include 130,000 square feet of city property, the city right-of-way both north and south of Grandview Parkway, the center medians, the interior lawn areas north of Grandview Parkway from West End Beach through the volleyball courts, and the Open Space. “The entirety of this irrigation system is a vast web that services all the trees, lawn, and flower beds,” Pagano wrote. “Daily irrigation is critical to the healthy establishment of the trees, proposed perennial garden beds, and the lawn.”

According to Pagano, the city’s letter of understanding (LOU) with the Michigan Department of Transportation for the Grandview Parkway project allows for the relocation of city irrigation infrastructure at the city’s expense. “It has been known to the city, and approved by the commission per the LOU, that the city would undergo this project and expense,” she wrote. “Originally this work was planned to be done in the summer of 2025, however to ensure viability of the existing and proposed landscaping it has since been determined that the irrigation will be needed sooner. This will save the city money to install now rather than wait a year and need to remove/replace recently installed groundcover.”

Staff are recommending waiving the bid process and going with Team Elmer’s since the contractor is already handling the road reconstruction and can do the irrigation work concurrently. A bid process would likely delay the work to next season, Pagano said, potentially damaging existing trees and landscaping that rely on irrigation and leading to increased costs and additional future closures. Many of those same factors led the city to recently award the downtown TART Trail reconstruction contract to Team Elmer’s so crews could work on the trail at the same time as the road.

More Project Work
Crews will begin resurfacing city parking Lot C – located next to Traverse Connect along the Boardman River across from Clinch Park beach – Monday. Work, which will include repairing damaged asphalt and improving stormwater drainage, is expected to be complete by July 28. The lot will be closed during construction. City workers will also temporarily close sections of the TART Trail between Hastings Street and the city limits starting Monday and continuing through Friday. Sections of the asphalt trail will be removed and repaved the same day “to limit its impact and safety concerns,” according to the city. “Safe passage around the work areas will be provided to allow through traffic to continue.”

Also this week, Team Elmer’s – in coordination with the city – will continue work replacing private galvanized water lines that were once hooked to lead. The water service replacement line project, mandated by the state, started in April and is expected to be complete by October. Crews will be working this week in the 700 and 800 blocks of East State Street, 100 block of Barlow Street, 1000 block of Washington Street, 800 block of Webster Street, 1000 block of East Eighth Street, and the 1300 block of Veterans Drive. Work will require sidewalk and intermittent street closures.