Long Awaited Construction on Dickman Road Officially Begins
Some of the work began at the beginning of May along Dickman Road, but the major project is set to begin June 1st.
The Michigan Department of Transportation began working on replacing some of the curbs along Dickman Road in downtown Battle Creek. It was in preparation for the long-awaiting reconstruction on one of the most traveled roads in the Cereal City.
The road, also known as Business Loop Interstate 94 (BL I-94), will be resurfaced between Interstate 194 (I-194 and M-66) and Helmer Road. Helmer, along with the corner at Dickman, were repaved just short of two years ago. This repaving will span just short of three miles of roadway in Battle Creek, used heavily by semis that cut through town from I-194 to the I-94 on West Columbia (Helmer is also part of BL I-94).
The first stage of the repaving is expect to occur near M-66, where there is also single-lane closures and ramp closures for work that began in May. The work along M-66 is expected to conclude before the Fourth of July weekend. There will also be a complete closure of eastbound and westbound Dickman Road from June 8th to June 14th.
MDOT Communications Director for the Southwest Michigan region Nick Schirripa stated in a release that the resurfacing of Dickman is expect to improve the safety and ride quality for drivers of the trunk line and extend the life of the roadway. The sidewalk upgrades will improve mobility and safety for pedestrians.
Another part of the major project will not be along the Dickman Road corridor. MDOT will also reconstruct a railroad crossing just east of the downtown area. The East Michigan Avenue crossing, just east of Union Street, will also be revamped for safety purposes. The crossing was one of many that was reconstructed during Battle Creek's "quiet zone" initiative that was implemented in 2018 to disallow the use of a horn by trains at crossings in the downtown area. A start date for the reconstruction at the crossing has not been announced. The reconstruction will improve safety around the intersection.
There will be single-lane closures during the daytime hours. Work during the night will put complete closures in place with posted detours.
MDOT's investment into the two projects will finish out at $5.1 million. The construction is expected to conclude on August 28th.