Innovate Mound Newsletter – May 2020
The Innovate Mound newsletter is designed to keep you informed about the Innovate Mound project as it moves forward. Located in the cities of Warren and Sterling Heights, Macomb County, the project will reconstruct approximately nine miles of Mound Road between 11 Mile Road and M-59. We invite you to share this information with your friends, neighbors, employees, and constituents. We’d also like to hear from you—please contact us with your thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns.
Innovation and Community
Regine Beauboeuf, P.E., HNTB Michigan vice president and program manager
With over 35 years of experience in the transportation industry, I have worked on many different types of projects, including large, complex, multi-disciplinary transportation initiatives in metropolitan areas. I joined HNTB almost two years ago and now serve as project manager for the Mound Road reconstruction.
This project is different from any in my past experience. There are many innovative manufacturers and businesses along Mound Road, and Macomb County is planning to make this corridor a nationally-recognized technology showcase. It’s the first time I’ve worked on a road project that not only wants to fix the pavement but also aims to integrate the newest mobility technology.
Our team is creative, responsive and proactive, we were well prepared for the customary challenges that projects of this magnitude present. However, none of us foresaw the challenges that Covid-19 would bring. When the pandemic hit, we partnered with Andiamo to deliver meals to healthcare workers serving at local hospitals. I reached out to our team to see if we could raise $500 to serve 50 workers at one hospital. Within 24 hours we raised $1,500 and were able to provide lunch to 50 staff members at three different Macomb County hospitals—Henry Ford, Ascension, and McLaren.
We see our role as serving the community—and sometimes that means going beyond just improving the roads.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a question about this project that you’d like to ask the project team? Email us today.
Q: How could Innovate Mound plans impact my life and property value?
A: Please be advised that future plans to improve Mound Road will not affect private property with a few exceptions. Innovate Mound will enhance the entire corridor from 11 Mile Road in Warren to M-59 in Sterling Heights. The project will create smoother roads for safer and more reliable transportation and commuting. It will also incorporate mobility and technology that matches the level of innovation of businesses operating in the corridor while supporting their long-term needs and, reducing congestion. This will be accomplished by the use of improved design and smart technologies such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), traffic signals and signs, connected vehicle pilot projects, and real-time traffic monitoring. The project will transform Mound Road into a user-friendly corridor that is safe for everyone, will enhance surrounding communities and improve the overall travel experience.
Q: How will this project impact the traffic and capacity of Mound Road? (current traffic vs. future traffic)
A: The new Mound Road will have improvements such as relocating cross-overs and prioritizing signals to improve operations and safety. The roadway will be widened north of 17 Mile Road and will have added capacity with one additional lane in each direction. The roadway is being designed to handle estimated year 2050 traffic volumes.
Listening to Our Neighbors
With Eric Dimoff, communications and public relations professional for Macomb County Department of Roads
I joined the department less than a year ago, after many years in public relations for private and nonprofit organizations. I work to ensure that we are communicating about county road projects and construction with residents, businesses, stakeholders, and the media. I’m now part of the team that is planning and managing Innovate Mound, the largest road project Macomb County has ever undertaken.
This corridor is one of the busiest in the county and its pavement has lasted well beyond expectations. Thousands of residents live in and around the area, in addition to the more than 70,000 drivers that travel this roadway daily. Everyone will benefit from its reconstruction and enjoy a corridor free of pot-holes with better traffic flow and increased safety for bikes and pedestrians.
An important step during the project planning phase is getting feedback about the current state of the corridor, and ideas for improving it from residents and businesses. Unfortunately, with the COVID-19 outbreak, instead of holding public open houses and attending community events to talk about the project, we’ve had to pivot our strategy drastically and take advantage of other communication methods.
One way that we are going about this is by sending surveys to area homeowner, condo and neighborhood associations. We’re hoping that members of these groups will help us learn how best to gather input from their residents.
If you’re an area resident and want to reach out to us directly, we encourage you to do so by calling our team at 1-855-MOUND-4U (688-6348), or clicking on to the link at the bottom of this newsletter to send us an email.
We’re counting on your input to help us create a project that meets our community’s needs now and well into the future.