Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A busy rest area in the Fenton area is getting a major upgrade and improvement – although motorists will have to deal with a closure for a couple of months.

MDOT is investing approximately $409,000 to upgrade the water main connection at the Fenton Rest Area along northbound US-23 in Genesee County. As for traffic restrictions, the Fenton Rest Area building and parking lot will be closed during the work.

The project start date is Monday, September 21st, with projected completion by late November.

The closure will allow crews to replace and upgrade the rest area facility’s water main connection by connecting it to a public water supply.

All lanes on northbound US-23 will remain open and shoulder closures will be in place as needed. Single-lane and shoulder closures will be posted on Lahring Road as needed.

The Rest Area was built with wells located roughly three-quarters of a mile north of it.

MDOT Davison Transportation Service Center Operations Engineer Ryan Whiteherse told WHMI over the last five to ten years, they’ve had lots of issues with well equipment, pumps going out, and poor water quality.

A couple of years ago, Genesee County and Fenton Township put in a municipal water line down Lahring Road across US-23.

Whiteherse said at that time, MDOT decided it would be beneficial to tie into that municipal water system and stop relying on those wells – which unfortunately have caused the Rest Area to be closed several times because there’s no water. He said they’ve been working on plans for roughly the past couple of years to tie into the water main where Lahring Road goes over US-23, on the south side of Lahring Road, and then run a new line down the shoulder of northbound US-23 to the Rest Area.

Whiteherse said the main benefit it that they won’t have to close down the Rest Area every time a well goes down or a water quality sample comes back less than stellar. He said issues have forced the closure of the Rest Area roughly several times a year.

Whiteherse said the change will also be a benefit when it comes to maintaining the facility. He said there were issues with deposits and build-up on pipes and faucets and the municipal tie-in will prevent stains and just be a better overall use for everyone. He added the one good thing about those frequent closures was that they’ve been able to take care of maintenance items without additionally impacting people during the closures – saying the Rest Area is in good shape; it’s just the water issues.

The Rest Area will be completely shut down during construction. Contractually, the contractor has to wait until after the Labor Day holiday period to start the project.

Photo: Google Street View