Bloomfield Township’s Board of Trustees has awarded a $1.7 million construction contract to Bloomfield Hills-based OCG Companies for the next phase of the Jan Roncelli Safety Path, a project that will finally stitch together a continuous walking and biking route between Telegraph Road and Woodward Avenue. The board approved the contract unanimously, 7-0, on Monday, clearing the way for construction on a roughly 1,400-foot stretch along the south side of Quarton Road between North Cranbrook Road and Chesterfield Road.
The winning bid of $1,708,561.20 beat out three competitors, according to MLive.com, which reported bids from Livonia-based Anglin Civil at $2.1 million, Detroit-based Major Contracting Group at nearly $2.3 million, and Shelby Township-based Z Contractors at $2.3 million. Bloomfield Township is responsible for 23.61% of the total project cost, which comes out to $357,957.50 for work done within the township, plus $45,479.25 set aside for as-needed costs. The City of Birmingham will reimburse the township for the remaining portion of the contract, including approximately $100,000 in its own as-needed costs, per the same report.
The two municipalities are sharing more than just a border on this project. Bloomfield Township and Birmingham are using the same consulting engineering firm, Hubbell, Roth and Clark Inc., to design and oversee both sides of the work, a strategy first outlined when officials approved the design phase back in May 2025, according to C & G Newspapers. At that early stage, the township’s share was projected at $661,000 and Birmingham’s at $800,000, figures that have since been refined as the project moved from design to a competitively bid construction contract.
A Corridor Two Decades in the Making
Once finished, the safety path will provide a continuous, safe route for pedestrians between Telegraph Road and Woodward Avenue, MLive.com reports. It builds on prior cross-border cooperation along the same corridor: Bloomfield Township and Birmingham jointly installed a sidewalk connecting to the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Quarton Road between 2019 and 2020, according to C & G Newspapers’ earlier account. On the Birmingham side, the safety path will extend from Pilgrim Road east to Lakeside Drive, and the city has significant engineering challenges to navigate on its stretch of the road, the outlet reported…