MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Michigan is notorious for poor road conditions due to high traffic volumes combined with widely variable weather and unpredictable freeze/thaw cycles.

Working to maintain these roads is a constant battle that everyone is fighting including Meridian Township. In 2018 the Township has a plan to reconstruct or otherwise maintain approximately 3 miles of local, neighborhood roads.

This year's road list was approved with a unanimous vote during the Township Board meeting on June 19th. The roads were carefully selected in order to maximize the number of vehicles benefitting from the repairs while also making the most of the allotted budget of $1,138,700. The selection process favors connecting roads as they see the most traffic, however, careful measurements and the use of advanced software allow roads to be assigned a PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating) rating from 1 to 10 with 1 being failed roads in need of immediate attention and 10 being pristine roads requiring no maintenance. Unfortunately, out of approximately 147 miles of neighborhood roads, about 36% or over 50 miles of road received a PASER rating between 1 and 4. That means there is a lot of work to be done in the future and the reconstruction of 3 miles of roads this year is a step in the right direction.

The roads that have been selected include Island Lake, Biscayne, Sleepy Hollow, White Owl, Burcham and more.