A project to replace the Pleasant Valley culvert in Brighton Township can now move forward - more than five years since the culvert’s closure.

The township’s Board of Trustees met Monday and unanimously voted to approve an agreement with the Livingston County Road Commission for the work. The project’s cost will be split 50/50 between the Road Commission and the Township, each contributing an amount not to exceed $326,711. The 11-foot culvert, which spans the creek adjacent to Lake Morraine, was closed by the Road Commission in May of 2014 as officials say it was in “extremely poor condition”.

Township Manager Brian Vick says it’s taken five years for the agreement to come to fruition as details were still being worked out between the Road Commission, the state, and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), which is formerly the Department of Environmental Quality. He reports that the parties have worked out those elements of the project and that the design has been approved by EGLE.

The scope of the work includes replacing the culvert that Vick says is “falling apart”, some road work, and approval of the culvert’s ingress and egress. While the project agreement has been approved, a start date for the work has yet to be set. The Road Commission reportedly couldn’t start construction until after the week of the 4th of July, due in part to regulations regarding protected species in the vicinity. Still, Vick expects the work to begin “relatively soon” as the township officials wait to hear back from the Road Commission.

Vick says the project is a "long time coming", adding that five years is a long time for detour traffic to be going through residential properties. (DK)