Traffic and safety engineer Ben Carrigan details an upcoming Michigan Department of Transportation project. The project is kicking off in 2023 and looks to improve safety on U.S. 41/M-28 between Negaunee and Marquette. (Journal photo by Randy Crouch)

EGAUNEE — Negaunee Township held a meeting detailing an upcoming 2023 road construction project before the council’s regularly scheduled meeting Thursday.

Traffic and safety engineer Ben Carrigan detailed a new $8.3 million project which will begin next summer and is likely to wrap up in the fall. The aim of the project is to repair and resurface a stretch of U.S. 41/M-28 from Iroquois Drive to Brickyard Road between Negaunee and Marquette.

Carrigan also presented a plan for updating the crossovers on the east intersection of Heritage Drive to the end of the grass median toward the east end of Pond Road.

The project will add “truck loons,” a section of pavement that is added to the outside of normal traffic lanes which allows larger vehicles, such as semi-trucks, to make safe U-turns on divided highways.

During his presentation, Carrigan said that the project should make the section of highway safer, as motorists will have less decision points where they have a chance to collide with traffic moving in the other direction.

The MDOT-led project will be made possible through federal and state safety and road preservation funds.

Randy Crouch can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. His email address is rcrouch@miningjournal.net.