The plan was one continuous safety path on the south side of Quarton Road, from Telegraph to Woodward, designed by one engineering firm and bid as one contract for two municipalities. Bloomfield Township's crews are scheduled to mobilize on Oct. 14. Birmingham's portion runs from Pilgrim Avenue to just west of Lakeside Drive, and it doesn't have a go-ahead yet. On Sept. 14 the City Commission postponed the hearing that would let it proceed. The new date is Nov. 9.
The two halves split over money, and the split follows how each government collects it. The township funds sidewalk work through a dedicated safety path millage. Birmingham covers most of the cost itself and assesses part of it to the property owners along the route through a special assessment district. Nearby, Quarton Lake got its second straight summer of dredging under a multiyear maintenance contract that commissioners approved unanimously.
One Contract, Two Ways to Pay
The joint project dates to spring 2025. In May of that year, C&G Newspapers reported that both governments had approved designing the route and that bidding it as one job made sense because both use Hubbell, Roth & Clark as consulting engineers. Corey Almas, the township's director of engineering and environmental services, described it as "one construction project, but accommodating two cities." This isn't the first time the two have teamed up here. They built a joint sidewalk at Woodward and Quarton in 2019 and 2020.
The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees awarded the contract on Aug. 24, 2026. The winner was Bloomfield Hills-based OCG Companies, at $1,708,561.20. The other three bids ran from $2.1 million to $2.3 million. According to MLive's Aug. 27 report, the township's share is 23.61% of the total, or $357,957.50 plus $45,479.25 in as-needed costs. Birmingham reimburses the rest, and its share carries about $100,000 in as-needed costs because of what MLive called "significant engineering challenges on its side of the road."
Here is how the two halves compare as of Oct. 10, 2026:
| Bloomfield Township segment | Birmingham segment | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | South side of Quarton, N. Cranbrook Rd. to Chesterfield Ave., about 1,400 feet | Pilgrim Ave. to west of Lakeside Dr. |
| Extra work | Path construction, turf and irrigation restoration | Sidewalk plus a boardwalk and water main work |
| How it's funded | Safety path millage, per Birmingham staff | City funds plus special assessment on adjacent properties |
| Status | Mobilization Oct. 14, construction Oct. 19 | Necessity hearing postponed to Nov. 9 |
| Projected finish | March 31, 2027 | June 30, 2027, if approved |
What the Township Side Looks Like Starting Oct. 14
The township's Oct. 5 notice places the work under the Jan Roncelli Safety Path Program. The program has installed nearly 80 miles of path since 1998, and it is named for the township's longtime clerk, who retired in 2020.
If your daily route crosses that stretch between North Cranbrook and Chesterfield, here is what the notice describes:
- Intermittent lane closures on Quarton Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on workdays
- Flaggers from OCG keeping traffic moving in both directions during closures
- Access to residences maintained at all times
- A daily observer on site from HRC, plus regular visits from township inspectors
- Turf restoration and repairs to damaged irrigation systems at the end of the project
Closer to Pilgrim, the township's path will end at the city line until Birmingham decides what to do.
Why Birmingham's Half Stopped at the Hearing
Birmingham's rule for new sidewalk where none existed before is set out in the city's Sept. 2 resident-meeting presentation. Properties fronting the improvement are assessed 85% of the front-foot sidewalk cost. Residential properties whose side faces the improvement are assessed 25% of the side-foot cost. Owners can pay in a lump sum or in installments with interest, usually at market rate plus 1%. The Sept. 14 agenda packet lists the unit prices behind those assessments: $60 per ton for 21AA aggregate base, $72 per square yard for 4-inch sidewalk and $81 per square yard for 6-inch sidewalk. It also lists three formal protests. According to the minutes, residents are assessed only for the sidewalk's aggregate base. The city covers the rest.
That split was the first thing raised at the hearing. Commenters questioned the 85/15 formula, and commissioners pointed out that residents of Oak and Wimbleton had gotten a 50/50 split on road repair because the city had state Act 51 money for it. The minutes record a broader list of concerns:
- The city would spend approximately $1.7 million on the project, which the minutes describe as a quarter mile of sidewalk.
- The same $1.7 million could improve roughly a mile of Birmingham road, and the city has other high-priority sidewalk gaps that could use the money.
- Bloomfield Hills isn't building sidewalk on its side of Quarton.
- The Multi-Modal Transportation Board listed this gap as a priority, but it may not have known a bridge would be required.
- It was unclear whether the city was legally obligated to do the project now, and whether some plats extend into the road.
Commissioner Longe moved to postpone and Commissioner Kozlowski seconded. The vote was 6-0, with Haig, Kolb, Longe, Baller, Kozlowski and Host in favor. A budget amendment on the same agenda would have covered the low bid of $1,305,124.45 plus a 10% contingency and engineering costs. Commissioners skipped it once the hearing was postponed.
How the Price Moved
The 2025 numbers give a baseline. In May 2025, C&G reported Birmingham's portion at about $800,000, for a route described then as Pilgrim to Woodward. The township's portion was estimated at $661,000, including contingencies, design, engineering and a 5% inflation factor.
By September 2026, the city's figure had become roughly $1.7 million for a route described as Pilgrim to west of Lakeside Drive, and the Sept. 2 presentation lists boardwalk and water main work as part of the job. The township's actual share at award, $357,957.50, came in well under its 2025 estimate. MLive also put the "significant engineering challenges" on Birmingham's side of the road.
The Lake Project That Passed Without a Fight
At the lake itself, a different kind of public works ran on schedule. On June 9, 2025, commissioners voted 7-0 to award a five-year dredging contract to Monroe County-based Mid-American Group. Its bid was $593,008, or $652,309 with a 10% contingency, and that total covers all five years. The four bids ranged from under $600,000 to more than $8 million, as Downtown Newsmagazine reported.
City Engineer Melissa Coatta explained why the work comes back every summer:
"Yearly dredging of the upstream portion of Quarton Lake prevents sediment from traveling downstream into the main portion of the lake and near the dam structure."
Most of the dredging happens in the river north of the lake and Oak Boulevard, with equipment staged at the north point of Oak Boulevard. At the 2025 award, Commissioner Clinton Baller raised a concern that equipment had sat near homes for a long time after an earlier dredging project. Coatta said the equipment would stay in the designated staging area. In the first season, the drying beds for sediment sat on the north side of Oak Avenue, between the river and Lake Park Drive. Parks and Recreation Manager Carrie Laird said the park would stay open because the work stays in the water.
The second season began July 22, 2026. The city's construction projects page now says the contractor has finished dredging and the spoils are drying before they're trucked off-site. The city hasn't published a haul-off date or this year's drying-bed location. If you see bagged sediment near Oak this month, it fits that stage of the cycle.
What Nov. 9 Settles
The dredging contract was approved 7-0 with its total set for all five years. The sidewalk reached the commission with a required bridge that the Multi-Modal Transportation Board may not have anticipated, and with part of its cost assessed to adjacent property owners. Commissioners postponed the hearing to clarify the plats and the city's obligations.
If Birmingham's half goes ahead, the Sept. 2 presentation projects work from winter 2026/2027, weather permitting, through spring 2027. During construction, westbound Quarton would close at times for the water main, the boardwalk and some of the sidewalk. Driveway access would be maintained, and the concrete needs seven to 10 days to cure. The city takes sign-ups for project email updates at bhamgov.org/enews. If it doesn't go ahead, the continuous path from Telegraph to Woodward stops at Pilgrim Avenue.
At Christopher Hubel, we follow decisions like the Nov. 9 vote because a street's history is still being written in commission minutes and contractor notices. If you live along Quarton Road or Lakeside and want to talk about what this stretch means for your home's story, let's tell your home's story.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
