Major guardrail improvements designed to improve road safety across Berrien County will become reality in 2022 thanks to federal highway dollars flowing through the Berrien County Road Department.
The department has announced that they have been notified that they have been approved for federal funding in 2022 made possible through the Highway Safety Improvement Program for a dozen local townships across the county.
Officials tell us that guardrail improvements are coming in fiscal 2022 in the townships of Bainbridge, Baroda, Benton, Berrien, Buchanan, Chikaming, Lincoln, Pipestone, Royalton, Sodus, St Joseph, and Weesaw under the federal program.
The approved project includes upgrading guardrails as well as installing new guardrails in locations where none currently exist.
The project includes upgrading existing guardrails and guardrail ends along with the addition of new guardrails at high-risk areas in an effort to provide additional safety to the traveling public. Guardrails help protect the traveling public from potential hazards such as entering into drainage ditches or other obstructions located in close proximity to the roadway.
The project will be made possible through the HSIP Local Safety Program that was applied for by the Berrien County Road Department in the Summer of 2020. Federal funding will cover 90-percent of the project cost, and the Berrien County Road Department will pay the remaining balance.
The county’s engineering department is constantly looking for additional grants and funding opportunities, saying their priority is to maintain and continue to improve the county network for the traveling public by utilizing all funding possible in the most efficient way. To learn more about how the BCRD makes decisions and utilizes Asset Management in the decision-making process you can visit online at: http://bcroad.org/1571/Asset-Management-Plan
