LANSING, Mich. — Lansing is receiving $1.4 million from the state for the complete replacement of the Aurelius Road bridge over Pawlowski Creek south of Jolly Road.
There have been frequent repairs on this bridge over the past few years, which is why Lansing’s public service director Andy Kilpatrick said replacing it became a top priority for the city.
“What the city does is we constantly look at our bridges and evaluate what is needed for them and, at some point in time, it is more cost effective to actually replace the structure, versus continuing to repair it,” Kilpatrick said.
Lansing mayor Andy Schor said this is a needed improvement in the city’s infrastructure.
“There's a section of loss and buckling,” Schor said, "and it's because of corrosion over the years. So we've done a lot of emergency repairs so that we can be sure that the bridge is safe and open to traffic. But it needs to be replaced. And these dollars will allow for that replacement.”
The state money will cover the entire construction cost of the project, which will begin during low water season—either summer 2022 or 2023.
Kilpatrick says that this bridge is a critical link on Aurelius Road.
“If this one were to go down or be load-restricted... since we have a lot of trucks in this area, they would have a long detour around there,” Kilpatrick said. “So, when it really is down, they would actually have to go over to Pennsylvania or further over to Cedar or MLK or 127.”
While the bridge is being replaced, the area will be closed and detours will be necessary, he said, but construction will only last a few months.
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