Lenawee County Road Commission has $2 million in hand for Shepherd Road project
The Lenawee County Road Commission has received $2 million in federal funding for a road reconstruction project but is still short $5.8 million.
A $7.8 million Shepherd Road project would reconstruct the 12-mile stretch of road from U.S. 223 to M-52, providing a direct connection from the northwest part of the county to ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital as well as access from the Tecumseh and Raisin Township area to the Devils Lake area. The road runs through Adrian and Rome townships.
Eight miles of Shepherd Road are currently paved, but the last four-mile stretch to U.S. 223 is gravel and is not a suitable route for drivers, road commission managing director Scott Merillat said. The plan is to completely rebuild the entire road.
The road commission applied for $6.42 million in April 2022 through the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton.
“We hadn’t heard anything and then we found out maybe a month ago that it was included in some legislation with federal funding, and we received $2 million in our grant application,” Merillat said. “We still have a $7.8 million project. At this point, we’re not sure exactly what our next steps are and where the funding is going to come from.”
Walberg submitted the project as one of his member-designated projects in 2022. The project received $2 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law last December.
“Many constituents across Lenawee County have expressed significant interest in constructing a direct route from the northwest corner of the county to the hospital. This project will help emergency personnel access more areas of the county and in turn improve response times in cases of emergency,” Walberg said in an email. “Rather than federal dollars being spent by a bureaucrat in Washington, I submitted this request after having discussions with the people of Lenawee County and the road commission on the value of this project for our community.”
Lenawee County Commissioner Kevon Martis, R-Riga Twp., is the commission’s liaison to the road commission.
“Representative Walberg has done a great job in making this funding available to his constituents in Lenawee County and I hope that we can find the revenue to take full advantage of this opportunity,” Martis said in an email. “Funding is an issue and I have full confidence that LCRC director Scott Merillat will work constructively with the county commission and other groups in the county to move this project forward.”
The $2 million in federal funding must be spent by 2025. One option the road commission could consider is shortening the project, but any change in the scope of the project would have to be addressed in the legislation, Merillat said.
The road commission is looking into the possibility of local funding as well as state and federal aid but has not applied for any of those monies yet. It is also unknown whether the road commission would be doing the job or if the Michigan Department of Transportation would be involved.
"It’s great news; $2 million coming to Lenawee County from the congressman’s office. That’s the hardest part about a project like this. It’s a $2 million grant but we’re still $5.8 million short,” Merillat said. “It’s good for the county to have money coming in that we can use to improve our roads and this is a through road that would get traffic from the north part of the county across through the north part of Adrian from U.S. 223.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: County road commission gets $2 million toward $7.8 million project
