At the Leelanau County Road Commission’s regular meeting Tuesday, Road Commission Manager Brendan Mullane congratulated crews and staff for finishing a “phenomenal” chip seal season. As of the end of July, the road commission chip sealed approximately 37 miles of roads this summer, according to Mullane.
Mullane said that this year’s chip seal operations included some difficult projects, including work on County Road (CR) 641 – Bugai Road – which is wider than many roads in the county. With chip sealing operations complete, the road commission will move onto work on Traverse Lake Road near the M-22 intersection.
They will then begin some “necessary” culvert replacements, including eight replacements and four repairs on CR 626 between Lake Leelanau to Omena; one culvert replacement on Pettengill Road in Empire; and two culvert replacements on Carter Road in Elmwood.
Mullane also noted in passing that he received a letter from Doug Verellen, of Cedar, regarding construction of the next segment of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. This five-mile section would extend the trail north from Bohemian Road in Cleveland Township to Good Harbor Trail. Construction is expected to start next year.
Verellen stated in his letter that he surveyed residents around Little Traverse Lake on this trail extension and found that most survey respondents opposed the project. Verellen says that he thinks it’s time for the National Park Service (NPS) to listen to the community “rather than pressing on with a very bad idea.” In his letter, he solicits discussion with the road commission on the survey.
While discussing next year’s projects with the newspaper last week, Mullane mentioned that if the NPS proceeds on the final segment of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, it could affect the road commission’s ongoing Traverse Lake Road reconstruction project. He noted that they may need to add bike crossings on the road as part of the trail extension.
Road Commission Engineer Craig Brown said that crews will soon start work on the next portion of the Traverse Lake Road project soon. This includes replacing two culverts and placing geogrid, gravel, and asphalt along an 800-foot section in a wetland area to improve the road’s stability. The culvert at the west end of the lake is not being replaced.
Brown also reported that although CR 614, or Gallivan Road, is open to traffic again, staff noticed several things that needed to be corrected during their final walkthrough. He said that their contractor will make the corrections “sometime this week.” Gallivan Road was closed between Alpine and Weisler roads in June while six culverts over various creeks were replaced.
Finally, Brown said that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will review bridge safety inspection reports for the county on Thursday. MDOT will review inspection reports on two bridges prepared by Link Engineering Services at the cost of $300 per bridge.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the road commissioners:
• Directed staff to cast votes for three positions on the County Road Association Self-Insurance Fund board of trustees, including one position from the Northern Michigan Association of Road Commissions region. The board reached a consensus to allow staff to choose which three of the four candidates they would vote for.
• Directed staff to cast votes for three positions on the Northern Michigan Associations of Road Commissions board of trustees. There were three incumbent trustees running unopposed on the ballot.
• Went into closed session to review a tentative agreement ratified by the Teamsters Local Union No. 214. After returning to the open session, they accepted the union contract retroactively from July 18 and directed staff to carry out the terms of the agreement. This included wage adjustments for the next three years, to include increases for mechanics and staff on the collective bargaining unit of 5% effective July 18, 4% effective July 2025, and 3% effective July 2026.
