Macomb public works project wraps up, Eastpointe road reopens

The open shaft as it appeared in Jan. 2023 on Beaconsfield Road, south of Nine Mile Road, in Eastpointe.

After being closed for a year and a half, a one-third mile stretch of Beaconsfield Road in Eastpointe reopened Thursday upon the completion of a major underground infrastructure project.

Beaconsfield Road had been closed from Nine Mile, south to Rosetta Avenue, since excavation of a large access shaft began in September 2022 to reach the sewer interceptor 35 feet below the surface.

Discharges of combined sewer overflows into Lake St. Clair will be reduced because of the upgrade.

“This is a significant day and proves the commitment and political will by Macomb County to lead by example in the region by investing in underground infrastructure to protect Lake St. Clair and improve water quality,” Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said during Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Generations of people will benefit.”

The underground infrastructure improvement was called the “in-system storage project” because it used the existing, 11 ½-foot-diameter pipe that has been in place for several decades to install an inflatable weir that can be operated to temporarily store combined stormwater and sanitary sewage flow during a heavy rain event.

When precipitation subsides, the weir can be deflated, and the stored flow is gradually released further downstream to the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Detroit wastewater plant for complete treatment — instead of discharging partially treated overflow into the lake.

The project will reduce CSOs into Lake St. Clair by approximately 10-15%.

“It shouldn’t be overlooked that a significant aspect of this tremendous, transformational project is that we used existing space in our infrastructure to all of our advantage, using it to its full capacity,” Miller said.

The $13 million project that included new concrete pavement and curbs to restore the intersection of Beaconsfield Road and Oak Avenue was funded mostly with American Rescue Plan Act funds — including $8.8 million in ARPA funds allocated by the Macomb County Board of Commissioners.