A funding agreement has been approved for a road improvement project on Old US-23 in Brighton Township.

The Brighton Township Board approved the agreement with the Livingston County Road Commission at a recent meeting in an amount not to exceed $3.2 (m) million. Board member Mike Slaton was opposed. The township and the road commission have been in communication for over seven years about improving the condition of Old US-23, particularly between Spencer Road and Grand River. Construction is expected to begin in March of 2020 and be completed in November of 2020. Township Manager Brian Vick commented the project has been kicked about for a long time and the board has been talking about it for seven or eight years now so it’s exciting to see the project move forward.

During the planning and design process, it was determined the project scope should include the East Grand River intersection as well as a portion of Whitmore Lake Road into Green Oak Township. It was noted during the meeting that instead of a two phase approach, the Road Commission decided to just do one big project and only disrupt traffic once. The work that will be done along Old US-23 in Brighton Township is from the intersection at Grand River, traveling north. Officials stressed that no money from Brighton Township is going toward anything south of Grand River as part of the project. (JM)