Woodhaven — Drivers have to navigate around part of Allen Road in Woodhaven until 2028 as Wayne County county rebuilds a heavily trafficked railroad crossing, but officials and local residents say they hope the detour will be worth it.
The reconstruction project will lower the section of Allen Road between Van Horn and West Road, and build a new railroad crossing bridge over it, separating motorists from the train traffic. The county, which manages the $65 million project, closed that portion of Allen Road in March to begin construction.
The trains head to the nearby Canadian National Flat Rock Yard and can block traffic for up to 45 minutes, according to the grade separation project’s website. More than 30,000 vehicles travel through the Allen Road crossing each day.
“I think it will help, 100%,” said Woodhaven resident Brenden Souva, 25, as he filled up his gas tank at a BP station on the south end of Allen and Van Horn. He said he goes through the crossing on his regular drive to work in Wayne and encountering trains is a near-daily occurrence.
Work to relocate utility, water and sewer lines is underway, said Wayne County Director of Engineering Sami Khaldi, which has included telecommunications infrastructure and the city of Woodhaven removing some streetlights. The area also has a 42-inch water main, and Khaldi said the Great Lakes Water Authority will only allow relocation when there is low demand on the water main, which generally lasts from October to March.
He said the county aims to finish the utility relocations by the end of this year.
“(With) these kinds of utilities, it takes extensive time and efforts to make sure they are relocated in the right location,” Khaldi said.
Before construction on the railroad bridge can start, the county also has to build a “shoofly,” slang for a temporary track to route trains around the closed portion of Allen Road.
The county anticipates finishing the grade construction project fully by the fall of 2028.
“When you dig, sometimes you never know what you’re going to find, but of course, we are hoping by late summer 2028, early fall 2028, it should be open to traffic,” Khaldi said.
Trenton resident Christine Kulik, 76, said she thinks the rebuilt railroad crossing will benefit residents who live in the area. One of her friends recently fell, and she and her husband drove to the emergency room to avoid calling an ambulance. But a train crossing at Allen Road delayed them getting to a local Corewell hospital by 20 minutes, she said.
“Sometimes you’ve got to go through short-term pain for long-term gain,” she said.
jcardi@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Construction underway on Allen Road rail crossing
Reporting by Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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