Sterling Heights secures funding to light final stretch of Metropolitan Parkway; plans landscaping and public art

City Manager Mark Vanderpool told council the city has secured funding to light the remaining unlit segment of Metropolitan (Metro) Parkway from Van Dyke Avenue east to the city limit near the Red Run drain, citing nighttime crash and deer-incursion concerns on that stretch.

Lead civil engineer Scott Sharon described the project scope: median-mounted, black LED light poles and fixtures matching the existing Van Dyke style over roughly a three-mile stretch, a contract in place with DTE Lighting, design nearing completion and materials already ordered. Sharon said the work will include median excavation for pole foundations and that crews will install enhanced median landscaping at two prominent gateway intersections to replace failing concrete pads with hardy native plantings.

Community Relations Director Melanie Davis outlined a companion public-art program that will place at least two — and likely three — site-specific display pieces along Metropolitan Parkway. Davis said the city is working with the Detroit Design Center and expects the pieces to integrate city-brand colors and offer locations for rotating featured works by local artists.

Vanderpool noted private-sector interest: AGS committed $30,000 to enhance a median on 18½ Mile Road, and another corporate sponsor has pledged a similar amount for a separate median. Staff said construction and landscape work are scheduled to start in the near future with installation of public art and plantings occurring in the following planting season.