Work is progressing on two major projects taking place in Traverse City, the Grandview Parkway reconstruction and the FishPass project at the Union Street Dam. Here are the latest updates for this week on both projects.

Grandview Parkway
With paving now underway on Grandview Parkway between East Front Street and Division Street, a traffic shift from the north to the south side of Grandview Parkway is expected to begin late Wednesday - almost two weeks ahead of schedule. Once that traffic shift occurs, the north lanes will be closed as workers begin removing the old pavement in that area. One lane of traffic will remain open in each direction on Grandview Parkway.

During the remainder of Segment 2, the RB parking lot and West End Beach parking lot will be closed for excavation and utility work. Access to the Duncan L. Clinch Marina will alternate between Marina Drive and the Duncan L. Clinch Yacht Harbor driveway. Union, Cass and Hall streets will be intermittently closed or maintained by flag control on an as needed basis for paving and grading operations between Friday, August 16 and Tuesday, August 20.

Front Street continues to be closed on the west side of Franklin Street. Turns at the US-31/Front Street intersection will still be restricted until next week. After that, drivers will be able to turn from US-31 onto Front Street. However, turns from Front Street onto US-31 will be restricted until Segment 2 is completed and all lanes are open. The TART trail from east of Cass Street to east of the Murchie Bridge will be closed during this stage, as well as some portions by the Open Space, with pedestrian and bicycle traffic detoured. 

The Clinch Park tunnel will be the alternate pedestrian crossing while paving activities are conducted at intersections. While crews are working on the Grandview Parkway/Front Street intersection portion of Segment 2, pedestrians will be detoured across Front Street and Grandview Parkway at the Barlow Street signalized crossing and the Murchie Bridge underpass. While crews are working on the Division Street/Grandview Parkway intersection, pedestrians will be detoured to the HAWK signal crossing at the Elmwood Street/Grandview Parkway intersection and the signalized crossing at the Division Street/East Front Street intersection.

"Despite losing some progress due to the discovery of unsuitable road base materials that needed to be removed, and a brief delay due to the discovery of human remains, Team Elmers kept working on other portions of the project and got us back on track," says MDOT Traverse City Transportation Service Center (TSC) Construction Engineer Jim Johnson. "As we begin this last stage of the project, we can really see the end is in sight."

FishPass
According to the city's Bay Brief, FishPass construction activities at the Union Street Dam site are "intensifying, with recent efforts including mobilization for sheet piling, the construction of a temporary dock, and the installation of a barge upstream of the dam."

Starting this week, "steel sheet piling currently stored on Airport Access Road will be delivered, and work on installing the upstream cofferdam will commence," according to the Bay Brief. "Deliveries will take place at Sixth Street, using Parking Lot J as the staging area. Temporary traffic controls, including flaggers, will be in place to manage traffic during these deliveries. Please note that the installation of sheet pilings will cause vibrations."

Photo credit: Team Elmers