BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WXYZ) — If you’ve explored downtown Birmingham lately, you might have noticed it’s a bit of a pain to get around with all the construction.
Right now, Maple is closed between Southfield Road to Pierce and again just west of Old Woodward to Woodward.
This is part two of a three phase project to improve aging infrastructure in the downtown area.
“It feels like it has been ongoing forever,” said Laura Lyng of Birmingham.
The good news: The work on Maple is two-thirds of the way done with an expected completion date of mid-September.
GETTING AROUND METRO DETROIT: Maple Road in Birmingham is currently getting some upgrades while the city fixes aging infrastructure. The downside, it's a pain to get around and limiting parking downtown. The good news, just a few more weeks until it's finished! @wxyzdetroit pic.twitter.com/eL4DbZ4KsR
— Ali Hoxie (@ali_hoxie) August 6, 2020
The work was meant to replace old water and sewer lines, but will include landscaping updates, including widening the sidewalks by at least three feet.
“There are more people in the community, a lot more walkers, a lot more people who are out and this is your main road so you definitely need to make it wide for the strollers for more people,” said said the owner of St. Croix, Victoria Knight.
Improvements are also planned at Southfield Road at Maple. The intersection will be moving 25 feet west towards city park, allowing for safer turning from Southfield Road.
Phase three of the project won’t happen until 2022. There is road construction planned on Old Woodward between Brown and Landon. The wait is meant to give businesses an opportunity to recover from each phase of the project the road.
