Michigan's Shortest Highway Gets an Overhaul

Here’s some trivia: what’s Michigan’s shortest State Highway? Hint: It’s right here in northern Michigan, and thanks to some recent major improvements by Team Elmer’s, the road will be turned over to the local municipality in November and will no longer be a part of the State Highway system.



The answer is Elberta’s own M-168, which runs along the Betsie Lakefront, across the water from downtown Frankfort.

 

 

The View from Bates Street

At Team Elmer's, we cherish each and every thank you note that hits our mailbox, but a recent letter grabbed us even more than usual.



Not long after we finished paving Bates Street in Traverse City, we received this message from Don Adams and his wife Colleen:

"We would like to say a big big thank you for the beautiful job you did on our new road at Bates Street… We consider it our street because I was born in this house in 1937. I never ever though I'd see pavement."

Wow. We could only imagine the changes Don must have experienced while living for more than 70 years at his lifelong home, so we sat down with the Adamses to hear more about his little plot of history.  

Don shared that his mother, Jessie, bought the house in 1920 when she was just 21 years old, with life insurance proceeds she received after the death of her first husband. She purchased the home from Mrs. Bates, for whom Bates Street is named.

So aside from the freshly paved road, what else has Don seen change throughout the years?

THEN:  When Don was young, there were just six homes on the block and the neighborhood kids would meet in the road to play.
NOW:  There are 14 houses and you get in trouble for playing in the street.

THEN:  There was no bike path in the area.
NOW:  With rails-to-trails, there is much more bicycle traffic and riders won't get lost in the mud and potholes!

THEN:  The freight train would go through twice a day and the passenger train to Petoskey would also pass by twice daily.
NOW:  Trains go through about once per week.

THEN:  The family lived with a hand pump out back until Don was five, coal from the downtown Traverse City coal docks kept the house warm, and the ice man delivered blocks for the ice box, which served as the household refrigerator.
NOW:  Thank goodness for modern utilities and appliances.

THEN:  Each family had one car and only one car. Don's dad, Archie, was a house painter and used a team of horses with a wheeled flatbed to haul the longer ladders that wouldn't fit in the family vehicle.
NOW: A car for every driver and all hail the oversized SUV!

Thanks to Don and Colleen for the peek back in time!

GreenSite Reader's Choice Award: Vote Team Elmer's

Our recent concrete work on Earth Shelter Project Michigan is up for a 2010 GreenSite Award! As they say, it's an honor just to be nominated, but it sure is fun to win too.

Click here to view our entry. If you like what you see, visit the Awards homepage and click on the link that says, "Vote for the 2010 GreenSite Reader's Choice Award." Winners will be featured in the October issue of The Concrete Producer and the November issue of Concrete Construction. 

We sure appreciate your support!