Birmingham engineers outline 28 miles of unimproved roads, timeline and costs; commissioners press for choices on pace and funding

City engineer Melissa Coda opened a special workshop March 10 with a presentation on Birmingham’s unimproved roads, saying the city currently records about 28 miles of such streets and a total of roughly 85 miles of city-owned roads.

Why it matters: Commissioners and residents pressed the administration for clearer choices and costs after Coda said at the current pace of work some neighborhoods would not see fully improved streets for decades. The discussion covered maintenance versus reconstruction, how the city prioritizes water and sewer replacement, and options to change special assessment rules or accelerate work by bonding or reallocating existing funds.

Coda briefed the commission on the city’s Act 51 road inventory submitted to the Michigan Department of Transportation and then summarized annual spending patterns. She said major and local street funds cover maintenance and capital work; “in 2024 we spent approximately $6,500,000 to major and local street funds,” she said. The engineer described two broad responses to gravel or “cape seal” roads: continued cape-seal maintenance that preserves a gravel base, or a special-assessment-driven conversion to four-inch asphalt or concrete pavement.

Key details and projections - Mileage: Coda said the city’s total improved-road mileage is about 57 miles and unimproved roads about 28 miles. - Annual cape-seal pace: the engineering department’s recent pace has been roughly 1.5–2 miles per year of cape-seal work; “Engineering’s goal going forward is try to hit approximately 2 miles,” Coda said. - Long-range projection: using an illustrative schedule, Coda warned that at roughly 0.75 miles per year the last…