Seymour Lake Road between Dunlap and Coats roads will remain closed until the end of November while construction of a new bridge over the Paint Creek finishes up.
‘We’re pretty confident we’ll meet that (completion date),? said Craig Bryson, spokesperson for the Road Commission for Oakland County.
Replacement of the bridge was supposed to be completed and the road re-opened by Nov. 1, but the project faced delays caused by both man and nature.
‘We ended up having to delay the start of the project a little bit more because of the Oakland County Drain Commission’s water main work on (Dunlap) Road,? Bryson said.
The existing bridge was considered structurally obsolete and had to be replaced. Ninety-five percent of the $650,000 project was paid for by a state grant, the remaining 5 percent by the road commission.
The project was originally supposed to start July 17. It was then rescheduled to commence Aug. 10, ‘but we actually ended up starting (after Aug. 15),? according to Bryson.
Add to the late start ‘all the rain? the area experienced over the last few months and the reason for the delay becomes pretty clear, Bryson said.
‘There’s nothing that the contractor’s done wrong, and no problems with the bridge,? he assured. ‘It’s progressing on the schedule we want it to, it’s just taking how long it takes to build a bridge. We’re satisfied that the contractor is progressing at an appropriate rate.?
Debbie Walleman, co-owner of Art & Dick’s Party Store at 81 W. Burdick St., can’t wait for that section of Seymour Lake Road to finally re-open.
‘Business has been down absolutely because the road is closed,? she said. ‘We took about a 30 percent loss.?
‘We didn’t order as much product because business has been slow,? Wolleman noted.
The road closure and detour along three gravel roads led many regular and potential customers to seek alternative routes that didn’t involve traveling past Art & Dick’s.
‘We don’t see a lot of our normal customers,? Walleman said.
And the customers who do stop in the store have been none too pleased with the on-going road work.
‘Everybody has been complaining, all the customers that come in,? Walleman said.
When the road re-opens later this month, Walleman joked she and the other businesses in the West Burdick Plaza ‘might all have a party to celebrate.?
‘We hope to see our old customers again and new customers,? she said.