This summer, Midland’s roadways have been overtaken by bright orange traffic cones, detour signs and heavy traffic. That’s because the city is updating its stormwater infrastructure, and all seven construction projects are going on at the same time.
On top of seasonal road maintenance and ongoing work from the Michigan Department of Transportation, the city of Midland’s Water Reclamation Department is digging up roads and sidewalks to upgrade stormwater pipes and replace water mains.
Jared Driscoll, director of water reclamation for the city of Midland, said the projects are fully funded by grants from the state of Michigan. There is no cost to Midland residents.
However, he said, the grant funding is contingent on timing. The city has to use the allocations by the end of 2026.
“We had a very short time to pick the projects, to get them designed, and also construct them,” Driscoll said. “So that's why they're all happening."
Driscoll said the projects are designed to increase Midland’s flood resiliency.
According to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Midland's proximity to the Tittabawasee River makes its low-level areas more suceptible to floods. Midland has experienced five severe floods in the last 40 years, and the river has crested to dangerous levels 14 times in the same period.
The city has been working to evaluate its storm water system since a major flood in 2017, when a study identified several areas of need in its storm water and sewer water networks.
“Most of the storm sewers that we're replacing were all installed between the 1940s and the 1960s,” Driscoll said. “So there was pipes that were undersized that needed to be increased in size to be able to handle additional rainfall when we have those [once in] 10-year events.”
Meanwhile, the uptick in road work has made getting around Midland more difficult.
Lukas Schram works for Fat Matt’s BBQ, a food truck based in Munger. He travels all over the region, often setting up shop at a Midland gas station, where he gets a front row seat to the traffic downtown.
“There's always people honking at each other,” Schram said. “It's crazy. This is probably the most construction I've seen this year so far and we've been setting up since April.”
Kristin Cronkright, a local business owner in downtown Midland, said the confusion caused by the traffic and road closures has made people more hesitant to come downtown.
“I feel like you get less people coming to the Loons games because of the traffic, which means less people wandering around downtown, less people shopping,” Cronkright said. “Little things like that kind of trickle down to the downtown businesses and that definitely hits us hard.”
A longtime Midlander, Cronkright said the construction this summer has made commuting much more difficult than in years past.
“I find that I have to slow down a lot and kind of get creative with where I'm parking, how I'm getting to work every day,” she said. “I try and give myself some grace and others, but it is incredibly frustrating, especially when you've lived in Midland your whole life and you're bound and determined to go a certain way every day and you can't do that anymore.”
Driscoll said the projects are complicated, and require several steps of engineering and contract work in order to be done properly. A road could be torn up for months while more work is being done behind the scenes.
“It seems like there's nothing going on,” Driscoll said “We hear it from residents all the time, and it's like, well, there's a lot going on outside of what's immediately in front of your house, you know?”
Driscoll said he understands people’s frustration with the construction.
“While it is inconvenient, tens of millions of dollars are being spent on these projects at no cost to the city,” he said. “I think that's a good thing.”
Construction is expected to run through the summer into fall, with substantial completion estimated for mid-November.
