BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Staff Writer

Construction on Sashabaw Road will switch sides in the next couple weeks.
Paving work on the southbound lanes from I-75 to Clarkston Road was to begin on Tuesday, with work on the shoulders and driveways starting on Thursday.
There will be a stop sign added and lane shifts at the northbound exit ramp to I-75 on Friday, Aug. 30.
Road work will then begin on the northbound lanes, said Independence Township Supervisor Pat Kittle at the Board of Trustees regular meeting, Aug. 20.
“Within about two or three weeks, the milling process will begin again,” Kittle said.
Dan’s Excavating and other contractors will work with the Road Commission for Oakland County to deliver the ground -up asphalt to Clintonwood and other parks to spread and compact in parking lot potholes, he said.
“Now, because we’re kind of flying by the seat of our pants here, what we’re going to try to do is get some swag on what this is going to cost us,” he said. “We think it’s going to be five, six, seven thousand dollars, but I don’t have firm prices yet because I just don’t know the extent of it. So I guess I’m just putting you on notice that this expense is going to be coming. It is not budgeted, although we do have the revenue in the bank account. And as I get more details, I’ll share it with you. I just didn’t want you to get surprised a little bit.”
The project is to widen Sashabaw Road to five lanes, with a continuous left turn lane, resurfacing, right-turn lanes where warranted and Americans with Disabilities Act -compliant sidewalks and crosswalks. Construction is scheduled to be completed in early October.
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Local projects funded by the proposed Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Fiscal Year 2020 budget, Oct. 1, 2019-Sept. 30, 2020, include culvert replacements on Davisburg Road over the Garner Drain, Springfield Township, $650,000; Andersonville Road over Shiawassee River tributary in Springfield Township, $750,000; and Sashabaw Road over the Whipple Lake canal in Independence Township, $600,000.
RCOC Board will vote on the $162 million budget on Sept. 20. The proposed budget is posted at www.rcocweb.org.
RCOC road construction projects will be suspended at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Work will resume after 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3.