What to Expect When Road Work Comes to Your Street

The Royal Oak Community Development Department has kicked off a series of local road projects. If you're seeing orange in your neighborhood, here's what you should know:

Notifications

Notice of Construction letter

Notice of Construction - CAP1835 JC_Page_1

All residents and property owners with property abutting a road project will receive an informational letter from the city several weeks before construction begins. It is important to read and save this letter for reference in the future.

Door Hanger

door hanger

If pavement has to be replaced that will affect a resident's driveway access they will be notified 24 hours in advance via a door hanger.

If a resident's water has to be shut-off for a duration they will be notified 24 hours in advance via a door hanger.

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update 1

Weekly project updates are posted on the Current Projects page as well as sent out in a weekly blast. You can sign up for the "News Flash - Engineering" updates in the Notify Me section and choose to receive updates via text and/or e-mail!

Notify Me

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Street Access

There is limited street access during construction projects, and alternate routes are encouraged for those who do not live on the street. The contractor often places temporary “No Parking” signs on one or both sides of the street to make sure there is enough room for construction operations and vehicle access.

If your street is part of the Concrete Pavement Repair program, the pavement will be replaced on one side of the street at a time to allow the street to remain open for traffic throughout construction. Parking on the street may be temporarily prohibited.

No Parking sign

Water Shut Offs

When new water main is installed, the water supply will be shut off two or three times for connection of the water main and for connection of the house services to the new water main. Each shutoff is generally four to eight hours long. Residents are notified 24 hours in advance of any water shutoffs, unless an emergency shutoff is required.

Water Drop
Construction vehicles

Pouring Concrete

While concrete can usually be walked on within hours of being placed, it takes about one week for concrete to become strong enough for vehicle loading. For this reason, new roadway pavement and new driveway approaches are closed to traffic for one week after concrete is placed.calendar

Restoration

The city will restore damaged areas of the greenbelts and lawns with topsoil and either sod or seed. Sometimes this work is delayed until after Labor Day for more favorable planting weather. The city does not replace any specialty landscaping, bricks, timbers, etc. on public property, though every effort is made to avoid damage when possible. The property line on most residential streets is located one foot behind the sidewalk (on the house side).grass

Trash Pick Up

Trash and Recycing

Trash and recycling are picked up on the usual schedule on city construction projects unless residents are notified otherwise. The city will sometimes arrange for early pick-up at 7 a.m. to avoid interfering with work operations for the day, so residents should have all trash and recycling to the curb by 7 a.m.

We ask that residents label their bins with their address in the event they have to be moved to the end of the block for pick up, so they can be returned to the right house.

More Information

Communications

We encourage residents to ask questions throughout the project, either by calling the engineering division, sending us an e-mail or speaking with our field inspectors on the street. The city’s inspectors are either Royal Oak personnel with yellow vests or consultants hired by the city to oversee the work on the city’s behalf. Contractors and their employees are often not informed about the entire scope of the project, and are not the best source for information.