8 Mile Road Repairs Add Safety, Convenience

Eight Mile Road will be resurfaced between Napier and Taft roads, in the City of Northville and on the border of Novi and Northville Township.

This is not an entire renovation of Eight Mile Road but a repair project, said Jeff O'Brien, design engineer for the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC).

"The project will start after the Fourth of July," he said.

The section between Garfield and Taft roads will finish this year, and the section through Napier Road is expected to be completed in 2014. The road will remain open to traffic during the entire project, but some areas may be reduced to one lane.

He said the project will add safety improvement like a continuous left turn lane from Beck Road to Taft Road. Beck Road will also be getting an improved right turn lane at the Eight Mile Road intersection.

"Some improvements will also help bicyclers," O'Brien said.

There will be continuous sidewalks immediately east of Beck Road to Taft Road, he said. The Novi section of Eight Mile Road, Napier to Beck roads, will have areas with 4 to 5-foot paved shoulders and 3-foot gravel shoulders, he said. This will make the roadside more comfortable for riding bikes.  

The road will also have improved traffic lights.

• The traffic signals at the Eight Mile-Beck Road and Eight Mile-Taft Road intersections will be updated.
  
• The flashing light at the Eight Mile-Napier Road intersection will also be updated. 
  
• The pedestrian crosswalks along these sections of Eight Mile Road will be upgraded to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.