COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Michigan Department of Transportation project that is currently scheduled to take place on the east side of Coldwater in 2028 may be delayed due to budget issues.
MDOT Manager Angie Kremer from the Marshall Transportation Center updated the Branch County Board of Commissioners on various projects during last Thursday’s work session.
She said a $14 million reconstruction project on U.S. 12 between Michigan Avenue and Willowbrook Road may not start in five years as it is currently underfunded and the cost of material has gone up significantly.
Meanwhile, work continues on a $2-point-4 million MDOT project on the Coldwater River bridge. Once the bridge work is done, crews will mill and resurface U.S. 12 from the bridge to Western Avenue and convert that section of 12 from four to three lanes.
MDOT’s preventative maintenance projects are scheduled three years out and they currently working on those projects for 2027. Major projects are scheduled five years out.
The traffic should have been rerouted and a whole new bridge could have been put in place. Possibly at a lower cost and in half the time. Poor planning once again.