LANSING, MI –— Thanks to an innovative, collaborative partnership between county road agencies, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), county road projects this summer are moving forward more quickly while still preserving Michigan’s cultural and archeological heritage. Under the new process, spearheaded by the County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan, “historical clearances” are expedited for most of the estimated 450 local federal aid road projects counties perform annually. Gone are the backlog, bottlenecks, and project delays that once jeopardized the federal aid timetable for these projects. In addition, in most cases, local road agencies no longer need to hire their own archaeologists and architectural historians to prepare an application for historical clearance. Since the new process took effect in January 2023, CRA has learned of no-cultural-impact projects obtaining clearance in under two weeks. “We are confident this new process is more streamlined for local agencies while protecting cultural resources,” said Steve Puuri, PE, CRA’s Engineering Specialist. “It’s a win-win scenario.”