Road Commission to Hills: West Bloomfield Holds Roundabout Key

Farmington Hills Mayor Jerry Ellis made clear the stakes are high in the pending decision to build a roundabout at 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roads.

Officials met with Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Managing Director Brent Bair and RCOC Commissioner Ronald Fowkes during a work session Monday night. RCOC has already built three of the circular intersections at Maple and Drake and Maple and Farmington in West Bloomfield, and at 14 Mile and Farmington roads in Farmington Hills.

The network of roundabouts and boulevards, approved in 2003, is designed to improve traffic congestion and provide a better connection between M-10 (Northwestern Hwy.) and M-5 (Grand River), according to the RCOC website. RCOC, the project's lead agency, has been negotiating since 2006 with West Bloomfield over improvements on Orchard Lake Road. Township officials protested after RCOC dropped a boulevard project due to lack of funds, but aimed to proceed with a roundabout at Maple and Orchard Lake Roads.

Intense negotiations have continued since 2008, leaving the Farmington Hills project – which is next in line – in the lurch.

The 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roundabout is "on the books," Ellis said, which is holding up two major development projects in that part of town. He said property on the south side of 14 Mile east of Northwestern has been rezoned for a major development, and the Grand Sakwa project that includes and on Northwestern includes another $20 million worth of investment, Ellis said.

"They want to know when is 14 Mile going to be diverted," Ellis said. "That's what the urgency is from our view. It means tens of millions of dollars in investment in Farmington Hills and Oakland County."

He added Farmington Hills officials support the roundabout and had set aside matching funds for the project. "We would love to be able to convince you to stop screwing around with them up there and work with somebody who actually wants you," he said.

Bair said the Northwestern Connector project reflected the settlement of a lawsuit the RCOC filed against the Michigan Dept. of Transportation (MDOT), after MDOT backed off a plan to extend Northwestern to a proposed extension of Interstate 275. Eventually, MDOT agreed to spend $30 million if the RCOC would put up $10 million to move traffic west, he explained.

The RCOC's Northwestern Connector project, a partnership that includes West Bloomfield Township and the city of Farmington Hills, is designed to move traffic west on Maple and north on Orchard Lake Road. Bair said the roundabouts on Maple move traffic much better.

Bair added the 14 Mile roundabout was built to help move traffic when roundabouts went in on Orchard Lake. He said the RCOC's priority is to build the Maple/Orchard Lake roundabout to meet conditions of the lawsuit settlement.

West Bloomfield Township officials were also meeting Monday night, and Bair said he told them his patience had run out.

"So tonight is the drop-dead deadline?" Hills City Manager Steve Brock asked.

Bair initially said yes, but later said, "If they come back with an alternative we've never heard of, we'll have to look at it."

Oakland County Commissioner Jim Nash, who represents Farmington Hills, pointed out that Hills officials had the matching funds and fewer issues with having enough space for the improvements. "They're smaller. Why do they have precedence?" he asked.

"They don't," Bair said. "The proposed improvements were consistent with the lawsuit settlement of moving traffic north and west. It was always agreed 14 Mile would never be more than three lanes. Maple was going to be the east-west connector."

Brock said the city would help with right-of-way acquisition. "We think we stand a good chance of being helpful in that regard," he said.

City Council member Mike Bridges asked about resurfacing on Orchard Lake, between 13 and 14 Mile roads, an area that has a large number of potholes and spots where pavement is broken. Bair said that was scheduled for 2012. He said the RCOC hasn't had the funding to do resurfacing projects. 

that on Monday night, township officials unanimously approved a motion to discuss an agreement with the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) on a possible resolution. The board will ask the RCOC to consider construction of a four-lane boulevard on Orchard Lake Road between 14 Mile Road and Maple Road, in addition to the Orchard Lake/Maple roundabout. The board will ask the RCOC to take remaining money to be spent on a proposed roundabout at the corner of Orchard Lake and 14 Mile.

Contacted Tuesday morning, RCOC spokesperson Craig Bryson declined to comment until the agency had heard directly from West Bloomfield Township officials.