Route salesmen, fleet drivers and others who routinely travel the M-51 corridor between Dowagiac and Decatur will face a month of slowdowns as the orange barrels, traffic cones and resurfacing gear all show up starting next Monday.
Michigan Department of Transportation engineers and contractors have lined up a $1.3-million fix to that stretch of M-51 in a resurfacing project that will run from next Monday, June 12th through approximately Friday, July 14th.
The project straddles both sides of the county line between Cass and Van Buren Counties, and will mean intermittent lane closures and single lane access as the work gets accomplished.
MDOT says the more than 9-mile job will run from the north city limit of Dowagiac in Cass County to Smartwood Drive just west of the Village of Decatur in Van Buren County. The $1.3-million investment includes adding centerline rumble strips. Steve Brink is Traffic, Safety & Operations Engineer for MDOT’s Southwest Region and he says there are many safety benefits of centerline rumble strips as he explains in this video provided by MDOT from their MDOT YouTube Channel. Click the link to watch the video:
MDOT officials say that this project will provide an improved road surface for a safer, smoother ride, adding, Centerline rumble strips notify drivers of crossing into oncoming traffic.
