LANSING, MI — A decade ago, Samaria Road was one of Monroe County’s most notorious trouble spots — a crumbling, pothole-ridden corridor so deteriorated that crews sometimes deployed multiple cold-patch teams at once just to keep it drivable. Today, that same 10-mile route between U.S. 23 and I-75 stands as a national example of innovation and long-lasting pavement design, earning the Monroe County Road Commission (MCRC) a Perpetual Pavement by Conversion Award from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA).
When the project began in 2014, the corridor was handling heavy commercial traffic, worsening freeze-thaw damage, and widespread pavement failure.
“It was one of the absolute worst roads in the county,” MCRC Managing Director David Leach said. “We’d patch it constantly, and one winter storm would wipe it out.”
Funding secured with the support of local legislators, paired with cost-sharing from Whiteford, Bedford, and Erie townships, allowed the road commission to pursue a full reconstruction.
MCRC used a bold, engineering-forward approach: reclaiming the distressed concrete road, pulverizing it on site, blending it with asphalt millings, stabilizing the base with emulsion and topping it with two layers of hot-mix asphalt. The process — MCRC’s first use of full-depth reclamation — created a strong, flexible pavement structure designed to last for generations with only periodic surface treatments.
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“The science behind it all really came together,” said Matthew Snell, PE, MCRC Director of Engineering. “Now we’re in preventive-maintenance mode. The heart and soul of the road remains intact.”
Ten years later, Samaria Road continues to perform well, with a smooth ride, paved shoulders, improved drainage, and reused materials that also benefited nearby projects. It stands today as the Scott F. Assenmacher, PE, Memorial Highway — a tribute to the late MCRC engineer whose leadership helped bring the project to life.
Collectively, Michigan’s county road agencies manage 75 percent of all roads in the state, including 90,500 miles of roads and 5,900 bridges. County road agencies also maintain the state’s highway system in 63 counties. Michigan has the nation’s fourth-largest local road system.
