MDOT recommends detours for Clinton River Road bridge work

STERLING HEIGHTS — Commuters who rely on taking the Clinton River Road bridge over M-53 will have to make alternative plans.

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, crews planned to start working on the bridge at 5 a.m. May 28, and this project will require the bridge’s closure for three months.

MDOT says the infrastructure fixes will include substructure repairs, some painting and a total replacement of the bridge deck. It is part of the transportation department’s broader bundle of repairs – estimated at $16 million – that includes M-53 between M-59 and 18 Mile Road, as well as the ramps that connect 23 Mile Road to M-53 in Shelby Township.

During the repair process, Clinton River Road between 19 Mile and Schoenherr roads will only allow local traffic, though motorists will still be able to reach Henry Ford II High School, MDOT officials said.

Everyone else should take the following detour paths. Drivers who normally travel eastbound on Clinton River Road should instead go eastbound on 19 Mile Road, then southbound on Schoenherr, and finally back onto Clinton River Road. Westbound drivers should go northbound on Schoenherr before going westbound on 19 Mile and then back onto Clinton River Road.

During the May 21 Sterling Heights City Council meeting, City Manager Mark Vanderpool commented on the upcoming road closure and predicted that the project is “going to be rather disruptive in our city.”

City Engineer Brent Bashaw also gave a brief presentation on the matter, replying that the good news is that the project will connect the sidewalk on Clinton River Road’s east side between 19 Mile Road and Henry Ford II High School. The new sidewalk along the bridge will have pedestrian safety features such as a separation barrier that keeps vehicles away from people traveling on foot, he explained.

Bashaw also said that the city did its best to make sure the work mainly takes place over the summer while school was out.

“So the goal is to have this bridge back open by the end of August,” he said. “We know this will be a disruption. It’ll be a nice improvement in the end. The sidewalk will be able to tie into, you know, a lot of different things in the future, like Donovan Park, the (Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority) trail, which is on the west side of the river.

“And all of these tie-ins can be made with our Clinton River Road project that we just received a federal earmark for. So that’ll be an exciting improvement that will be upcoming.”

Sterling Heights’ upcoming Clinton River Road project, estimated at over $10 million, will reconstruct the road between Canal and Hayes roads. According to the 2024-25 budget, the city will pay around $3 million toward that project, while federal funding will pick up around $7.4 million.

Learn more about MDOT roadwork updates by visiting michigan.gov/drive, or more about MDOT itself by visiting michigan.gov/mdot. Learn more about Sterling Heights’ road projects by visiting sterlingheights.gov/1039/Road-Projects or by calling (586) 446-2489.