Mound is scheduled to undergo extensive pavement and technical improvements in 2020 but temporary patching is underway right now to ensure the road is safe to travel until then. After uncertainty whether these temporary repairs would even begin, the contractor has promised the work will be complete by end of November.
The Donut Factory on Mound has provided sweet relief from the bumpy drive for years.
"During the winter it was horrible, I got a flat tire and the customers complained every day! Big potholes last winter and the winter before," says Lillian Taseski, owner of The Donut Factory.
This winter Macomb County executive Mark Hackel hopes Mound will be pothole free.
"We talked to the contractors and said this has to get done," says Hackel.
200 million dollars in federal grants and state funding is in place to redo all of Mound Road in 2020.
"But the concern was, what do we do until 2020? Because it’s a problem," says Hackel.
A temporary fix had been planned this Fall but the labor disputes between MDOT and road workers took crews off job sites for weeks and there was concern that Mound's temporary repairs wouldn't even begin. Hackel says he made clear to contractors that Mound needs to be a priority. The potential damage another winter could do, could create big problems for commuters as well as for the large number of semi-trucks that rely on the road.
"This is a huge economic impact on not just the state of Michigan but the U.S. economy," says Hackel.
Today road crews went to work on Mound removing bad concrete around joints, cleaning, putting tac down and then filling area with hot asphalt and using a roller to compact the hot mix asphalt into the joint.
Contractors say they will finish these temporary repairs of an 8 mile stretch, from 18 Mile Road to I-696, by the end of November.
"So motorists will be able to drive on a pothole free roadway until permanent work begins in 2020," says Hackel.
And Taseski can focus on making pastries not dodging potholes
"Oh yes! That needs to be done, ye," says Taseski.
As crews make these temporary repairs, expect lane closures on Mound between 18 Mile and I-696.
