This project is the continuation of the Village’s goal to improve their two main corridors. This portion involves 1.0 mile of Paw Paw Street from the south Village limits to Bangor Road. Paw Paw Street is home to the Village and Township offices, several commercial businesses and residential homes. It is a wide road, with on-street parking and a railroad crossing. The project scope consists of HMA mill and overlay, drainage improvements, sidewalk repairs, and minor street widening at the Front Street intersection to improve turning movements. The project will receive state and federal aid and be a Local Agency Program project. The design is underway, with construction scheduled to begin in the summer of 2024.

The Village of Lawrence in southwest Michigan, partnered with AR Engineering on the surveying, design, and construction engineering services for their E. St. Joseph Street Reconstruction project. East St. Joseph Street is a main corridor through the Village that runs between the east Village limits to downtown at the Paw Paw Street intersection. The project was nearly 1.0 mile in length and consisted of HMA mill and overlay and shoulder widening, drainage improvements, and sidewalk repairs at ADA crossings. This project received state and federal aid managed by the Regional Rural Task Force (RTF) for Van Buren County. MDOT assisted during the project through the Local Agency Program (LAP) by ensuring appropriate processes were completed per state and federal regulations. The project was completed in the Fall of 2022.

City of Portage - Utilities Installation Projects

AR Engineering partnered with the City of Portage on the design and construction services for utility and street improvements to three local roads. This project supported the continued efforts of the City’s Capital Improvement Plan to invest in public water and sanitary sewer extensions in areas of need.

Romence Road, between Angling Road to the cul-de-sac near US-131, is a local street with residential homes. Several homes on this road did not have water or sanitary sewer available from the street. This project involved over 700-ft of both water and sanitary sewer extensions, service lines to residential properties, road reconstruction, drainage improvements, restoration and HMA mill, and overlay of the remaining portion of Romence Road to Angling Road.

Portage Road, from Milham Avenue intersection to the City limits, involved the extension of 740-ft of watermain. Portage Road is heavily traveled and primarily a commercial corridor that serves several businesses and the Kalamazoo Battle Creek International Airport. Utility coordination was critical during the design phase with Consumers Energy and AT&T. Portage Road has several existing utilities on both sides of the street that created challenges for the location of the new watermain. One existing utility that was most critical were fiber lines serving the airport. Early coordination with these utility companies led to the successful construction of the new watermain and water services. Traffic control was also important, as it was necessary to maintain flow in both directions and maintain access to businesses within the construction limits.

Willoughby Drive, from Milham Avenue to the end of the road, involved the extension of 450-ft of watermain to serve the residential homes. This portion of the project was unique as the City’s limits ran through the middle of the road. The City of Portage had jurisdiction over the easterly side and the City of Kalamazoo had the westerly side. The watermain was placed on the easterly side of the road which is where all the residential homes are located along the street. Other improvements included pavement reconstruction of Willoughby Drive and sidewalk installation from the Portage Road intersection along Milham Avenue to the Willoughby Drive intersection.

The projects were completed in 2022. Romence Road was started first and completed in late summer, the Portage Road and Willoughby Drive portions started soon after Romence Road and were completed later that fall.

This project involves the continuation of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail (KRVT) project, which consists of nearly 21.7 miles of paved trails within Kalamazoo County. The goal of the KRVT is to connect the Kal-Haven Trail to the Battle Creek Linear Park trail. AR Engineering was awarded the contract to design the Segment 6 and a portion of Segment 7a of the KRVT project. Segment 6 is located within the City of Galesburg and begins at the current ending of the KRVT trail near the Galesburg Augusta Primary School on Battle Creek Street. Segment 6 consists of about 1.8 miles of HMA and concrete paved trail ending on McCollum Avenue. Two large culvert crossings and reconstruction of Battle Creek Street were two major aspects of this project. Segment 7a is located in Augusta on M-96 and consists of about 0.2 miles of HMA trail. Scope of the work also involved the design of two railroad crossings, which will be constructed at a later date. The project was completed in Fall of 2020.

The City of Portage sought engineering and inspection services for two local roads: Angling Road and Meredith Street. AR Engineering was awarded the project in 2018. Angling Road consisted of nearly 2,250 feet of mill and fill between Vincent Avenue to the City limits at Merryview Drive. Meredith Street consisted of nearly 1,600 feet of mill and fill between Sprinkle Road and East Kilgore Road. Drainage and other utility improvements, such as hydrant replacements, installation of sewer leads and new fire hydrants were included in the scope of work. The project also included widening a portion of Angling Road to provide a center left turn lane for the Angling Road Elementary School. Project was substantially completed in Fall of 2019 and final completion was in Spring of 2020.

Road Upgrades for New Tech Center - Lawrence, MI

A new technology center was planned in the southwest corner of the Village of Lawrence. This was exciting for the Village of Lawrence but two roadways needed to be upgraded to access this new project due to the increase of traffic. The Village of Lawrence requested and was approved for state funding through the Category B Economic Development fund through the State of Michigan for upgrades to Blackman Street and South Street. AR Engineering has completed the design and the project is planned to be constructed in 2020. AR Engineering will assist the Village with construction engineering and inspection through the construction of this project. This project includes some road widening and a pavement overlay to help with that increase in traffic. Also, AR Engineering and the Village coordinated with the Van Buren County Drain Commissioner to replace a large culvert for Lawrence Drain as a part of the project.