Construction to Start on M-5 and Pontiac Trail Roundabout May 31

Although West Bloomfield Township residents will not have to deal with major construction on major streets this summer, the biggest project in Southeast Michigan will take place next door.

Commerce Township officials, working with the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), broke ground Friday on a $5 million-dollar roundabout project at  the M-5 connector and Pontiac Trail. The construction is expected to slow traffic May 31-Nov. 1.

Lt. Tim Diamond of the recommended that drivers exercise patience and use suggested alternative routes as portions of Pontiac Trail will be closed.

“I would avoid the Pontiac Trail and Haggerty Road intersection all together,  use Maple, but I don’t think there’s any quick answer,” Diamond said. “You could use Haggerty until you hit Maple (Road) going northbound, but people are just going to need to have patience and deal with delays as they come, just as it was before M-5 was built.”

Beginning May 31, Pontiac Trail will be closed between M-5 and Welch Road (to the west of the intersection), according to RCOC. Pontiac Trail east of M-5 will remain open, and traffic will be permitted to travel from northbound M-5 to eastbound Pontiac Trail and from westbound Pontiac Trail to southbound M-5.

Traffic will not be permitted from eastbound Pontiac Trail to southbound M-5 or from northbound M-5 to westbound Pontiac Trail. Traffic going from westbound Pontiac Trail to southbound M-5 will have one open lane, just as northbound M-5 to eastbound Pontiac Trail will have one lane, said Craig Bryson, public information officer for RCOC.

The detour for traffic on Pontiac Trail between M-5 and Welch Road will be Welch Road to Maple Road to Haggerty Road and back to Pontiac Trail and vice versa.

M-5 was extended to Commerce Township over an eight-year period between 1994-2002.  The township purchased the land used in Dec. 2003 from two private owners of golf courses, according to Kathleen Jackson, the director of the Commerce Downtown Development Authority.

Bryson said that the roundabout will eventually link Pontiac Trail traffic with Oakley Park Road traffic via Martin Parkway, which is undergoing construction to connect the Commerce Public Library with Pontiac Trail.

Jackson said Monday that Martin Parkway will form the basis for a viable downtown in Commerce when completed.

Township officials to discuss Northwestern Connector Project again

A to discuss the Northwestern Connector Project is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 21, at . The Northwestern Connector is part of a long-range, multifaceted plan to move traffic through West Bloomfield from the the end of Northwestern Highway at 14 Mile and Orchard Lake Road to M-5. According to Bryson, RCOC and the Orchard Lake Road Committee are debating whether to construct a four-lane boulevard or a roundabout at the intersection.

“There have been changes in the township leadership since then and understandably, the current administration wants what they feel is best for their residents,” Bryson said.

Ronelle Grier contributed to this report.