The Michigan Department of Education has awarded nearly $20 million grants to the cities of Detroit and Albion, as well as Wayne County, in order to improve infrastructure that will stimulate job growth and encourage existing jobs.
MDOT announced on Monday that it gave a Transportation Economic Development Fund Category A grant totaling $340,000 to the city of Albion in Calhoun County. The grant will be used to repair roads used to access a factory in Albion which will be used by Knauf Insulation Inc.
Kanuf currently manufactures 157,000,000 pounds of fiberglass insulation products annually and employs 149 people. It plans on restarting an idled production line in the city, a move that is expected to create 35 new jobs. Although Kanuf chose Albion over competing locations in Indiana and Alabama, access roads to the location are currently not built to all-season standards.
The project will cost $650,000 in total, using $340,000 from the TEDF grant, $244,590 from the City of Albion and $65,410 from the Calhoun County Road Department.
MDOT has awarded a similar grant to the city of Detroit, totaling $832,929 in TEDF funding.
Dakkota Integrated Solutions, LLC, is opening a Detroit location to supply parts for Fiat Chrysler Automobile’s new Jeep assembly plant. The grant will allow Detroit to improve accessibility to the location.
Improvements include constructing right-turn lanes for employees of the plant, increasing lane storage, and realigning the intersection of Townsend Street and Medbury Street to increase room for turning.
“Dakkota appreciates MDOT’s help in fixing road conditions to establish our employee entrances, exits, and truck routing,” said Ryan Klunzinger, Dakkota Integrated Systems project manager. “Through the various efforts, we can help our employees come to work safely and leave safely.”
The location is expected to bring 419 new jobs to Detroit.
MDOT also awarded a grant to Wayne County totaling $18,384,084 that will go toward infrastructure improvements related to Ford Motor Company’s plans to transform its Research and Engineer Center in Dearborn. Ford wants to transition its center into a high-tech campus that could potentially house more than 20,000 designers, engineers, and product development workers.
“We greatly appreciate MDOT, Wayne County, and the City of Dearborn for supporting this important project that will improve local roads and provide new amenities and public spaces that will benefit the community,” said Gabby Bruno, Ford Motor Co. regional government relations director, in a statement. “Our campus of the future will bring Ford employees and local residents together like never before, with coffee shops, restaurants and shared pathways that people can use seven days a week and across all seasons.”
The grant will go toward improving the road network around Oakwood Boulevard in order to ensure vehicle and pedestrian safety, as well as manage increased traffic flow as Ford expands its research center.
The project will cost $20,693,313 and will use both the grant and $12,309,229 from Ford Motor Co. and the Wayne County Department of Public Services.
“When we make real investments in our infrastructure, we can attract more businesses and talent to our state and grow our economy,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “This has been a crucial step toward achieving that goal, but there is still work to do. We must invest more into our roads so everyone can drive to work safely and so companies have unimpeded access to markets.”
—
Jordyn Pair is a reporter with Battleground State News and The Michigan Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair. Email her at [email protected].
Photo “Detroit Road” by grego1402. CC BY 2.0.
