It’s a busy day, and you need to get to work fast. You plan to take your normal path through Meadowcrest, but as you approach the intersection, you realize you can’t because of the construction happening. Instead, you have to turn around and take an extra five minutes out of your way to make it to Coolidge Highway, making you late for work. The construction throughout Huntington Woods City has put many people in this situation. Starting in May, and continuing through the present day, residents have witnessed the construction disrupt their everyday lives, but is it for the best? Will it be worth the annoyance it has caused countless Huntington Woods residents and Berkley High School students? Throughout this article, the countless questions residents and students have been left wondering will be answered, and you will gain a better understanding of this situation that has disrupted so many.
This construction has been going on for a few months, and many paths of travel have been blocked, leading to a lot of stress and redirection for residents living directly next to it. Senior Gretchen Stief happens to live directly next to the new construction, and when asked about how long it has been going on, Stief explained, “I think since the first week of school.” This construction gets pretty annoying and disruptive to her everyday life. Stief said, “We’ve had to constantly find spots next to our house…we park in the street a couple of houses down.” Along with that, this can become a bigger issue if someone is injured. Stief complained, “Two months ago I broke my toe, so I couldn’t walk…I had to crutch [to the car].” Among other things, this ongoing construction has also disrupted her home. Stief further explained, “They took away my driveway… I think they cut down a tree.” This leads her to go out of her way, just to get to her car. Lastly, due to the amount of construction near her house, Stief has had to find new paths of travel to get to places she needs to be. When asked about it, she said, “I can’t go on Meadowcrest anymore. I have to turn around to go to Newport,” leading to a lot of indirect travel. She later explained, “It takes an extra couple minutes.”
The problem of construction has impacted so many, but it is all in good judgment. Amy Shea, the Department of Public Works Office Manager for Huntington Woods, said, “We do a bunch [streets] every year… it is mostly due to their surface condition.” The redone roads have many benefits, such as more sustainable driving. When asked about what benefits from the construction, Shea said, “Smoother roads… more reliable water mains… they look nicer, which benefits property values.”
Despite the turmoil this has caused residents, there will be many benefits that get added as well. Smoother roads inevitably mean you can get places faster and easier. No one will have to navigate potholes for a while, and you don’t have to be as careful about cracks in the road. Along with that, this construction also means that we will have reliable water mains. Water mains are pipes meant to distribute water throughout houses and businesses. By having reliable water mains, residents get clean, safe, and reliable water for everyday use.
The smooth roads and better water mains aim for a more reliant amenity, which benefits people, however, the blocked paths of travel add inconvenience to everyday life due to the roads being out of service. Instead of going the direct path, many people have to take extra turns and go down extra streets to go where they need to. This adds many minutes to travel and gets really frustrating. When asked about people getting around, Shea said, “To the extent [helping people move around easier] that we can, we spread them out a little bit… almost everyone can get to 11 Mile or can get to Coolidge, or they can get to Woodward, so there’s always a way.” Even though the neighborhood split into sides due to the construction on Meadowcrest, there is still a way to get around, and eventually, this will get back to normal.
This construction will help so many people once current roads are done with construction. However, because this is a yearly thing, we will likely see more construction a few months into 2025. Shea explained, “It will just keep going on…the roads we’re building now won’t last forever. At some point, it will have to be done again.” Since roads are in constant use, they constantly get worn down and need repair. Due to that, the city will always have to keep on repairing. That isn’t to say the amount of construction we have had the past couple of months won’t stop. It’s just that there will always be things that need to be repaired; that is something you can’t stop. However, in order to keep repairs minimal, Huntington Woods does touch-ups every now and then to make roads last longer. Shea mentioned, “We do treatments to asphalt these days… once a year they’ll come and put a spray.” Hopefully, these treatments keep roads in shape longer and make it easier for residents to get around the city.
During this construction, there seems to be two main things they fix: mill and fill and a total reconstruction. A mill and fill is just where they repave the roads, fix curbs, and repair any small things. A total reconstruction is where they totally redo the road, including the pavement and water maines. For example, the construction of Lincoln Dr. was a mill and fill; they just did the curbs and roads. However, the construction on Meadowcrest is a total reconstruction; they completely dug up everything, redid curbs, and repaved it.
Though only a few roads are being done at a time, it seems to take a long time to redo. This is due to the different types of construction happening to different roads. For example, the mill and fills take much less time to do, but the total reconstructions can take weeks. When a road will be done will depend on what needs to be redone.
Though construction may not come to a full stop, it will hopefully slow down over the next couple of months, and make it so much easier for all to get around. Despite the constant construction being annoying, there will be countless benefits to it that will impact all residents in a positive way.
