To provide you with end-of-year project updates, we spoke with Jonathan Bailey, the Ombudsman for Innovate Mound. As the Ombudsman, Jonathan is the main point of contact with the public and businesses for construction-related questions or concerns. His goal is to facilitate fair and equitable public or stakeholder concerns that are caused by construction. To ensure success, he works closely with the Design-Builder and their team to address concerns from the residents and businesses located along the Mound Road Corridor.
To reach Jonathan Bailey with any comments or concerns about the Innovate Mound project, please call 1-855-MOUND-4U and dial 2 when prompted.
What are the biggest accomplishments of the project since construction broke ground?
Since breaking ground in August, we have been focused on the temporary widening work of northbound and southbound Mound Road from 15 ½ Mile Road to M-59 within the median and left lanes. During the temporary widening work, storm sewer and utility construction was completed in preparation for the full reconstruction in 2022. We have been able to quickly mitigate public concerns and regularly visit businesses that are having issues due to the closures or detour routes. The safety of workers and drivers has been and will continue to be the most important factor through construction.
What are the biggest challenges with this type of project?
For arterial projects like Mound Road, the biggest challenge is related to utility coordination and relocation. The Mound Road project involves improvements and repairs to both the City of Sterling Heights and City of Warren utilities, as well as the relocation and upgrades to private utilities including AT&T, DTE, and Consumers Energy. Coordinating the relocation of the various utilities to minimize impacts to both the public and the Design-Builder’s schedule requires very close coordination with numerous organizations.
What can the community look forward to next year?
We will be hosting a public meeting in early February where the public will have a chance to discuss the construction with us directly. An invitation for that meeting will be released in the new year. Our construction of Segment 1 (15 ½ Mile Road to M-59) will begin in March and continue through November so that meeting will be an important checkpoint with constituents.
What do you want the community to know about this project as we wrap up the first year?
Although the first season of construction has been completed, there will continue to be daily lane closures on Mound Road for utility relocation work. These lane closures will be set up and removed daily. You can find information on upcoming lane closures on the Innovate Mound website, Facebook page, or by signing up for newsletter updates.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Innovate Mound Project team. Public feedback has helped improve our processes from day one and we look forward to continuing serving the communities of Sterling Heights and Warren throughout this construction process.
Please keep an open mind and be patient driving through construction zones over the next few years. We are working to improve the roadways and improve Mound Road to better serve the community.