The work last year to improve Napier Avenue through innovative design is continuing to impress officials all across the state. In fact, that project and the improvements on Red Arrow Highway at Union Pier have both garnered statewide IMPRESS Awards from the County Road Association of Michigan.
That group recently honored the Berrien County Road Department with two statewide awards at their Virtual Awards Ceremony hosted last last month. IMPRESS Awards recognize county road agencies that demonstrate innovation with special projects in communications, operations and collaboration.
The Berrien County Road Department received an IMPRESS Award in Collaboration for its “Red Arrow Highway Union Pier Corridor Improvement Project” and a second IMPRESS Award in Operations for its “Napier Avenue Road Diet Innovative Design.”
In its Collaboration project, Berrien Road Dept officials worked with Chikaming Township, New Buffalo Township, the Michigan Department of Transportation, The Pokagon Fund and USDA Rural Business Development Grant, to make Red Arrow Highway a safer corridor for pedestrians and the community by reconfiguring the road and inserting pedestrian walkways at Union Pier.
For its Operations Award, the Berrien Road team resurfaced Napier Avenue with road fabric and performed a “road diet,” reducing the road from four lanes to three to make room for pedestrian pathways.
Denise Donohue, CRA Director, says, “Berrien County Road Department’s attention to detail and eye for innovation has proven them successful in advancing the local road network,” adding, “These award-winning projects show their dedication to improving transportation for the motoring public.”
An independent panel of communications and operations experts from several of Michigan’s 83 county road agencies judged all IMPRESS Awards submissions. Award recipients were honored for projects that solved time constraints, labor costs, communication barriers and fostered collaboration.
The 83 members of the County Road Association of Michigan represent the unified voice for a safe and efficient county transportation infrastructure system in Michigan, including appropriate stewardship of the public’s right-of-way in rural and urban Michigan. Collectively, Michigan’s county road agencies manage 75-percent of all roads in the state, including 90,000 miles of roads and 5,700 bridges. County road agencies also maintain the state’s highway system in 63 counties. Michigan has the nation’s fourth-largest local road system.
