Marion Hester

Kent County Road Commission (KCRC) is Michigan’s second-largest road commission, serving 21 townships and more than 635,000 residents. KCRC purchased a 29-acre parcel in the Walker View Industrial Park to build a new central complex facility. They had outgrown their Downtown Grand Rapids facility, built in 1923, and needed more room to expand.

Nowak & Fraus (NFE) served as the Civil Engineering Consultant on the project, responsible for site planning, geotechnical investigations, environmental permitting and leading the team through the project entitlement process. The uniqueness of this project directly relates to the complexity of the site constraints including: 52-feet of elevation change across the site, regulated wetlands jetting into the property, perched/high groundwater conditions, contaminated soils, and three high-tension transmission lines within a 165-foot-wide utility corridor bisecting the property. NFE worked very closely with multiple vendors to fully develop a viable site plan, obtain site plan approval through the City of Walker, prepare construction documents, obtain approvals from permitting agencies, obtain approvals from regulatory agencies, and bring the project through a multi-phased construction process.

The project highlights include:

• 37,000 SF Administration Building
• 150,000 SF Maintenance Garage
• Covered Fueling Station
• 5,152 SF Vehicle Wash Building
• 21,500 SF – 6,000-Ton Salt Storage Building
• 17,500 SF Cold Storage Building
• Material Storage Areas
• 37 Visitor and 222 Secure Staff Parking Spaces with Landscape/Irrigation Pond and Employee Patio

Nowak and Fraus Engineers (NFE) had the honor of serving the City of Birmingham as prime engineering consultant for the South Old Woodward Avenue Reconstruction Project, which was Phase 3 of the City’s comprehensive downtown streetscape and infrastructure reconstruction. Phase 3 was intended to modernize the southern portion of the City’s vibrant downtown. A traffic-calming road diet, wider sidewalks and crosswalks, additional mid-block crossings, extensive ADA accessibility upgrades, and a high-contrast lighting layout at pedestrian crossings enhanced pedestrian safety. The streetscape design was also intended to provide amenities, including bus stop shelters, bike racks, moped parking spaces, and accommodations for future EV parking spaces. Overall aesthetics throughout the corridor are greatly enhanced by various “pocket park” areas that feature decorative curb islands, granite benches, landscaping, and trees.

Project highlights include:

• 10,500 Square yards of concrete pavement
• 8,500 Square yards of concrete sidewalks
• 76 Exposed aggregate raised curb
• Landscape & tree planters
• 6,300 Plantings
• Pavement markings
• Signage
• Reduced imperviousness
• An equivalent length of nearly seven miles of underground utilities
• 100-Foot-Wide Right-of-Way of Old Woodward Avenue, consisting of water main, combined sewer main, storm drains, storm detention, sanitary and water building services, legacy fiber conduit, street lighting, electrical system, and irrigation system