The Ottawa County Road Commission is once again planning a busy year of road reconstruction, resurfacing, and preventative maintenance projects.

Nearly 20 miles of improvements to primary roads, more than 7 miles of local road improvements, consisting of resurfacing and reconstruction work is planned for the 2022 construction season.

The OCRC also has a slate of preventative maintenance projects planned, including more than 54 miles of seal coat "chip seal" surfacing and 13 miles of cape seal surfacing. Both seal coat and cape seal surfacing projects can provide a road an additional 5 to 7 years of surface life to a roadway.

Primary Road Projects

Here are just a few of the notable projects for the 2022 construction season:

• Reconstruction and resurfacing work on Lakewood Boulevard from Lakeshore Drive to Butternut Drive in Holland and Park townships.
• Resurfacing of Cottonwood Dr./Fillmore St. from Taylor St. to 48th Ave. in Georgetown Township.
• Resurfacing of Leonard Street from 68th Ave. to 48th Ave. in Polkton and Tallmadge townships
• Resurfacing of 68th Avenue from Leonard St. to Randall St. in Polkton Township

Local Road Projects

Local road improvements include funds from townships as well as general transportation funds. They include resurfacing of several local roads and subdivisions. Local road improvements also include the re-graveling of some of the dirt roads in Ottawa County, which is performed through a 50/50 cost sharing program between the Road Commission and the township.

You can view a complete list of these and all other resurfacing projects on our website, https://www.ottawacorc.com/.

We understand that construction season can be a temporary inconvenience, but it brings long term benefits.

The Road Commission wants to help make construction season easier on everyone. To help reduce some of the headache, we'll work to inform residents about the ongoing projects and their status.

You can find information on our website, including: a list of all the roads with planned improvements, an interactive project dashboard with a map showing projects and project details. We also have a complete list of road closures and construction projects, updates about detour routes for closures, and information for residents whose street is being resurfaced.

This is all in addition to our Facebook and Twitter pages, which are updated regularly with OCRC news. We hope you find all of these sources of information useful during construction season!

After being delayed last year, construction on the Byron Road bridge over the Black River in Zeeland Township is slated to begin this month on March 7.

The bridge rehab project includes the removal and replacement of the bridge deck and supporting beams.

Work is expected to be completed by June 5.

The project will close Byron Rd. between I-196 and 76th Ave. The detour route for the project is 64th Ave. and Chicago Dr.

The bridge is one of 19 structures that are a part of the state's new bridge bundling pilot program.

To help keep track of the pilot program, the Michigan Department of Transportation has created a new online dashboard at Michigan.gov/BridgeBundling. This portal will provide project updates and percent completion, detour routes, and other information on the Byron Rd. bridge, and other state bridge projects.

By combining several contracts into one, bridge bundling allows one contractor, or one group of contractors, to work on multiple bridges in several locations, simultaneously, if needed.

This can bring taxpayer savings through the standardization of bridge components and mobilization costs.

Paved roads aren't the only roads that fall victim to the spring thaw and weather.

Spring weather also has a severe impact on the condition of gravel roads.

The effect of frost leaving the ground is compounded by large amounts of rain and/or snow melt during the late winter/early spring season.

The fines (silt and clay) in the gravel road that are needed to bind the sand and gravel together under normal conditions become oversaturated and weak during this thawing process. The saturated silts and clay also hinder excess moisture from draining through the gravel. What was once a frozen and solid road turns soft, unstable and muddy.

The best cure for these “muddy” gravel roads is warm, dry temperatures and a good wind to allow them to dry out.

Attempts to grade and/or place gravel on top of this “muddy” condition can turn the road into a bigger mess than if it were left alone. As the saying goes, when you add sand or gravel to mud, you just get more mud.

The Road Commission regularly monitors the gravel roads in Ottawa County, and once conditions warrant, we will grade and reshape them as necessary.

Until then, motorists are advised to use caution while traversing on “muddy” gravel roads.

The arrival of the spring thaw means the arrival of pothole season.

These pesky obstacles occur when snow and ice melt as part of Michigan's seasonal freeze/thaw cycles.

During the winter months, cold patch, also known as cold asphalt, is the most common method used to fill potholes because it can be applied right from the truck without heating.

Cold patch is not dependent upon warm weather.

Road crews like cold patch because it retains its pliable properties when the temperature drops, so it can be used year-round.

Permanent repairs are typically made during the summer maintenance season using hot mix asphalt, once these materials are more readily available.

Additionally, preventative maintenance projects help prevent potholes by improving pavement integrity, preventing water penetration, and directing water away from the roadway.

If you notice a pothole, please contact our office at 616-842-5400 or utilize our online service request form to report the pothole location for our crews.

Your eyes aren't deceiving you -- that is indeed an Ottawa County Road Commission truck with a double wing plow.

The OCRC has three of these double wing plows, with one in our North Holland garage, and two in our Hudsonville garage.

During winter maintenance season, the double wing plow trucks are used on the MDOT system routes such as M-6, M-121, I-196, and U.S. 31.

This added wing allows plow trucks to clear more surface area at a time, such as plowing the shoulder of the road, as well as a travel lane, all in one pass.

This efficiency saves our crews time and allows them to treat and maintain area roads much faster.

For a single-wing plow truck, the cost is roughly $240,000. The cost to add a double wing only increases the cost by about $10,000 to $12,000.

In the spring, summer and fall when not pushing snow, these trucks can be used for all other OCRC maintenance purposes, such as hauling material and other maintenance tasks.