COLDWATER (WTVB) - Road construction through downtown coldwater along with a possible intersection reconstruction at US 12 and South Willowbrook is on tap for this summer. The Coldwater City Council last night approved spending eight thousand dollars to fund the engineering for the project at South Willowbrook.
According to City Engineer Charlie Bouchard, the intersection has had more crashes than any other in the city. Bouchard said that over a two year period, there were a total of 64 accidents including one fatality and 22 injuries.
The proposal would prevent left had turns onto Willowbrook from the China Buffet/Buffalo Wild Wings Plaza to the west and the Speedway Station on the east. The proposal with its options would be brought before the council sometime next month. The projected cost for the recommended project is eighty thousand dollars.
While the three lane repaving of Chicago Street through downtown has been postponed until next summer the enhancement project is still a go. According to city officials, the intent of this project is to aid in pedestrian street crossing, traffic calming and visual enhancements of the US-12 corridor. This would be achieved by constructing concrete sidewalks and bump-outs within the state right-of-way while adding visually-enhancing features such as brick pavers and landscaping materials.
The total cost of the project is 293 thousand dollars. The city portion would be 190 thousand dollars which would be paid for by the downtown development authority, the rest coming from a grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
In other action last night a motion was introduced to regulate the construction of wind turbines within the city. Noise, appearance and location are all covered. The resolution will be brought up for a final vote at the May council meeting
