Marquette Township Board approves preliminary opinion for Forestville Rd intersection upgrade

MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLUC) - The Marquette Township Board unanimously approved a proposal to begin the final design process for upgrading the intersection of Wright Street and Forestville Road at a meeting on Wednesday.

The approved agenda item gives the township board up to $30,000 to complete a preliminary opinion of probable cause for the intersection improvement project.

The township board will work with contractor Wade Trim to complete this work by the end of March. According to Marquette Township Manager Jon Kangas, Wade Trim will come up with a final design to upgrade the intersection during this time.

“They will get us those plans, or that opinion of probable cause by the end of March,” Kangas explained. “Then we will decide with the Marquette County Road Commission if we have a project that is worth seeking funding for.”

Kangas added the township board would likely also need to seek approval from the City of Marquette and Northern Michigan University on the intersection upgrade before deciding to move forward on any final project.

He added that all parties must agree before the township board seeks state funding to improve the intersection.

“If they can find a solution that will improve all of the movements at the intersection for the next 20 years, I think the township board and county road commission would probably agree that we have a project worth seeking an appropriation for in Lansing,” Kangas continued.

The township board currently has a rough plan for the intersection upgrade that would add new lanes of travel on each side of Wright Street as well as a new entrance to Forestville Road.