The Berrien County Road Department announced several new road improvement projects today (Tuesday) to improve the safety of high-traffic roads for Berrien County drivers.
For about three weeks beginning Monday, October 17, Red Bud Trail between M-139 and Shawnee Road in Oronoko Township will see intermittent lane closures as Road Department crews widen the road and resurface with asphalt.
Road Department Project Engineer Kevin Slack says the project is being completed for safety reasons.
“It will get a three-foot wide paved shoulder on each side,” Slack said. “With the amount of traffic that goes up and down that road, federal guidelines say the road needs to have three feet of shoulder, with two feet of gravel.”
Also beginning Oct. 17, Shawnee Avenue between Holden Road and Cleveland Avenue in Baroda Township also will be undergoing a widening and resurfacing project.
“Shawnee Avenue will actually get a little bit wider of a shoulder to match cross-sections previously built going toward Bridgman, to kind of continue that out to Cleveland Avenue,” Slack said.
Drivers should expect lane closures from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Road Department also announced Union Avenue near Napier Avenue in Benton Harbor will have a lane closure Wednesday and Thursday to allow for structure adjustments.
Local traffic on Union Avenue is requested to come from Nickerson Avenue while crews are working to complete structure adjustments. Northbound Union Avenue traffic will still be permitted to exit onto Napier Avenue, but Napier traffic will not be permitted access onto Union.
