MDOT will rebuild roads in downtown Hancock

HANCOCK — New streets, new lighting, new sidewalks, and a complete re-envisioning of the streetscape of downtown Hancock.

That’s what residents and business owners will have to look forward to once a major road reconstruction project is complete. But first, they will have to endure a summer full of road closures and detours next year.

The Michigan Department of Transportation gave a presentation to the public to outline the size and scope of the work.

MDOT project manager Ken Filpus says, “It involves about a mile length of US-41 in the city of Hancock, which includes Quincy Street, Front Street and Reservation Street. We’re looking at doing a complete reconstruction of the roadway. We’re also looking at some streetscape features such as decorative street lighting, tree planting, and curb bump-outs at the intersections.”

In addition to the road reconstruction, downtown Hancock will get a whole new aesthetic makeover complete with park benches, trees and colorful flowers.

That brings the overall cost of the project to about $11 million, but most of that is coming from state and federal funds. During the next couple of months, MDOT will be looking for the public’s input on many of the details of the project.

Filpus says, “Well, right now we just want to present preliminary plans for the project—just get their thoughts on the design. We’re looking for some opinions on some of the streetscape items such as the tree plantings, curb bump-outs and lighting.”

The project is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2016 and is expected to be completed by the end of next October.