Canton Township lays out five-year roads plan, cites MDOT Ford Road timeline and SEMCOG grants

Charles Larocque, township engineer and engineering manager, presented Canton Township—s five-year roads plan during the board meeting, outlining major road and local subdivision work funded by the voter-approved 2018 road millage. "We started work, shortly after that, using road millage dollars," Larocque said, and described a program that currently produces about $7,000,000 a year for projects on major corridors and subdivision streets.

Larocque reviewed 2025 work completed or underway, including milling and resurfacing on Gettys Road and Beck Road, and repaving work in 18 subdivisions (about $2 million) as part of the local program. He said the township addressed alkali silica reaction (ASR) damage in six subdivisions this year with state and county participation. "We were able to repave those subdivisions and improve the quality of the roadway in those subdivisions, tremendously," he said.

The presentation listed near-term major-road projects: an intersection improvement at Gettys and Beck (adding right-turn lanes on three legs), resurfacing of Lilly Road and Morton Taylor Road in 2026, and a Sheldon and Palmer roundabout targeted to be under construction in 2027 and completed before school resumes. Larocque said the Sheldon–Palmer roundabout is largely grant-funded: "the grant we got from SEMCOG of about $2,600,000 that will cover pretty much all the construction costs."

Larocque described the MDOT-led Ford Road Boulevard project as a separate but coordinated effort. He said MDOT is targeting a construction bid date in December 2027 and construction beginning in 2028. The project will require right-of-way acquisitions where MDOT plans median "loons" and turn accommodations. "Construction right now is still anticipated to begin in 2027, 2028," Larocque said.

Trustees and residents pressed staff on safety details at Ford and Beck, where vegetation limits sight lines. Resident Katie said drivers on eastbound Ford trying to turn right onto Beck "cannot see the oncoming traffic from the north that are going southbound." Larocque said a SEMCOG-sponsored road safety audit by a consultant recommended clearing brush; he reported the county would be the agency to clear the vegetation but that engineering staff would follow up to ensure the work is scheduled.

Larocque also discussed future 2028/2029 projects, including a potential Beck Road widening north of Ford that may require bridge widening, and another SEMCOG-funded roundabout planned farther out. He said the township would continue a preventative-maintenance program (crack sealing, seal coating, targeted patching) and that additional county township road program funds would be integrated into the local program to accelerate the wait list for subdivision repairs.

The presentation closed with Larocque noting the road millage—s cumulative impact: "It's approximately $6,000,000 each year that engineering services handles, in projects, without increasing our headcount." He said the program allowed Canton to address projects that otherwise would not have been possible without the millage.

Questions from trustees covered potential design options at problem intersections (left-turn lanes, adding a right-turn lane onto the Gettys spur) and whether vacating short rights-of-way to simplify traffic patterns had been considered; Larocque said those options remain on the table for study. Several trustees thanked Larocque for the presentation.