IRON MOUNTAIN — Dickinson County Road Commission has a number of projects planned this year, after doing $4.8 million in road and bridge repairs in 2022.

Projects on primary roads tentatively scheduled for 2023 include reconstruction of County Road 581/426 in Ralph; a two-phase project on County Road 577, one mainly in Waucedah Township and the other in Norway Township; Cheese Factory Road to County Road 569 in Breen Township; Turner Road from M-95 to Carey Avenue in Sagola Township; and a safety project to upgrade and improve signage on County Road 581 in Felch Township.

Local road projects will be discussed and determined early this year,

said Jim Harris, road commission managing director.

Harris described 2022 as “a banner year” for improvements, noting three important bridge projects were completed.

The bridge work included replacement of a weight-restricted structure on Cheese Factory Road in Breen Township; partial deck repairs/sealing and expansion joint replacement on the County Road 577 bridge in Norway Township; and a post-construction shear stud project and resurfacing on the County Road 573 bridge in Waucedah Township, thus removing a weight restriction. The bridge costs totaled $2.4 million, covered in part with federal aid and the state’s Critical Bridge Program, according to Missy Berger, road commission director of finance.

Primary road work in 2022 totaled $1.7 million, including Breitung Avenue and Upper Pine Creek Road in Breitung Township and County Road 581 in Breen Township. Federal, state and road commission funds were used, Berger said.

The work on County Road 581 involved a High Risk Rural Roads project to reduce the grade of Davidson’s Hill. The Breitung Avenue reconstruction was aided by a Michigan Transportation Economic Development Fund Category F grant of $375,000 and utilized an innovative cold-in-place pavement recycling method. An asphalt overlay project took place on Upper Pine Creek Road.

Local road system reconstruction projects were completed in cooperation with the townships, along with dedicated county funds, on River Meadows/Old U.S. 8 in Norway Township, Herzog Road in Sagola Township and Swede Settlement Road in Waucedah Township. Total cost of that work was $647,014.

“The road commission is consistently searching for additional funding in addition to annual funding sources and partnered with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and Michigan Technological University on several recent innovative projects as well as correspondence with legislators for potential funding opportunities,” Harris said.

Due to a recent change in policy, the road commission was able to do substantially more routine maintenance county-wide in 2022 by lessening construction work done by its own crews, Harris added.