Cleveland Township is on track to repair several roads off Sugar Loaf Mountain Road next summer, especially if they secure another agreement with the Leelanau County Road Commission. This includes repaving the Scenic Mountain View Estates area, Fairway Drive, and Bluff Drive/Circle.
According to Supervisor Tim Stein, the township should have enough resources to pay for these projects in summer 2025, partly because this year’s major road project came in under budget. The township expected to spend about $190,000 repaving the bend along the northeast corner of Little Traverse Lake, but the bill came in around $130,000 instead.
This has left about $60,000 for road maintenance in the township’s coffers, which can be spent next calendar year. Cleveland Township residents also approved a millage for township-designated roadways in August, which is expected to raise just under $80,000 in its first year. Furthermore, Stein said they allocate about $100,000 of their budget to roads per year.
This places the township at about $240,000 towards a $345,000 project. To close the remaining gap, the township seeks a costsharing allocation from the road commission. The road commission may have shared about $100,000 for the Traverse Lake Road project this year, but Manager Brendan Mullane has previously said their pool of funds for local road improvements may be low in 2025.
Nonetheless, Stein said that he was “confident we can do these projects next year without really causing a tremendous burden on our budget” at the Cleveland Township board’s Nov. 12 regular meeting.
Stein said the township had some setbacks in lowering the speed limit on Traverse Lake Road, however. The township supervisor hoped to make the case for lowering the speed limit from 40 to 25 mph because the road goes through a subdivision and a park, but neither argument held up to the definitions by the Michigan State Police (MSP).
The Little Traverse Lake Property Owners Association had previously sent a letter to the board asking for the speed limit to be reduced to 35 mph in October, and Stein said he still expects a judgment from the MSP to allow this change.
Stein also mentioned talking with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Scott Tucker on moving the location of a new parking lot to be included in the Segment 9 trail extension, but since the project was paused Nov. 13, the future of this extension is uncertain. Stein said he would provide another update to the board at their Dec. 10 meeting.
