Advertisement

The road board has been asked to re-classify one mile of Miller Road in Watertown Township, from M-19 east to Stoutenburg Road, from local to primary.

With the reclassification, the city could apply federal and state aid in constructing the route, because there would be primary road on road end and a state trunkline at the other Ð Miller to the south and M-46 to the north, city Manager Lou LaPonsie.

LaPonsie said the aid would be in the form of matching grants, that would assist the city in constructing the all-season route through the industrial park.

Currently, Stoutenburg is a paved street from M-46 south to the entrance of Sandusky High School, a distance of about a half-mile along the west border of the industrial park. The city wants to extend the street another half-mile or so to Miller. The new portion and the existing stretch would be built to Class A or all-weather specifications.

"Once constructed, this street would serve as a by-pass route for truck traffic coming from the east on M-46 and going south on M-19 or coming from the south on M-19 and going east on M-46," LaPonsie stated in a letter to the Road Commission Engineer Robb Falls.

"This would also serve the new county (road commission) maintenance building, the (proposed) Sanilac County Transportation building, Sandusky School System, the residents in the industrial park as well as other businesses adjacent to the street."

LapPonsie added, "By making South Stoutenburg Road a by-pass route, it would also relieve much of the congestion at the M-46 and M-19 intersection in mid-city Sandusky."

The road board, which has also received a letter of support for the reclassification from Sandusky Schools, directed Falls to contact the Watertown Township Board of Trustees about the request.

The city and township have discussed the reclassification over the years, but the township has never taken an official position, according to township Supervisor Dick Henderson.

Henderson said the board would want to survey residents along the half-mile stretch of Miller Ð from M-19 to Stoutenburg Ð before reaching a decision. There are about a half-dozen residents, including a church, he said.

However, agreeing to the reclassification is one thing, contributing the lion's share of the money to upgrade the road from local to primary is another.

"The problem was always money," said Henderson, referring to discussions with the city about reclassifying the road. He said the township would look to the county for assistance.

However, Falls said the most the county will cost-share on primary road building is $25,000. He estimated the expense of rebuilding the half-mile of Miller at $100,000 to $150,000. The township might also be eligible for federal and state grants, but those dollars are tied up for the next few years, Fall said.