Last update: April 8, 2008

COUNTY BOARD OF ROAD COMMISSIONERS

The three person Board is appointed by the Kent County Board of Commissioners and provides the organizational direction and policy guidance for the Road Commission.  The Board meets at 1500 Scribner Avenue NW. Grand Rapids, Michigan on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month beginning at 8 a.m.  (616 Area Code)

Engineering Division

The Engineering Division is responsible for the design and construction engineering of all County road and bridge projects on the County primary system (green routes on the county map), and they assist other Divisions in providing engineering expertise and assistance.  The Division is also responsible for department-wide contract administration, soil erosion control, right-of-way acquisition, subdivision control, the issuance and inspection of all permitted activities within the County road right-of-ways, commercial driveways, and the County Road Map. (616 Area Code)

Equipment and Building Division

The responsibility of the Equipment and Building Division is to formulate specifications for purchase, rental, or lease on all equipment, buildings, and work on the grounds at all four complexes, and all maintenance of equipment, buildings, and grounds. (616 Area Code)

Finance Division

The mission of the Finance Division is to provide its customers with excellent financial services and valuable information. The Finance Division responsibilities include all day-to-day financial transactions of the Road Commission including budgeting, accounting, purchasing, financing, information systems, and financial reporting. (616 Area Code)

Maintenance Division

The Kent County Road Commission is responsible for the maintenance of County primary roads, local roads, and the State Trunklines.  Primary roads such as West River Road, Lincoln Lake Avenue, Patterson Avenue, and 84th Street, are shown in green on the County map. The type of work performed is very similar to those performed for the Michigan Department of  Transportation on the State trunklines.  Reconstruction, overlay, and bridge replacement projects are handled by the Road Commission Engineering Division, normally by contract with private companies although the Maintenance Division may do smaller projects. The local road system is shown in solid black or two thin black lines in the case of gravel roads on the County map. The Road Commission and the Townships have worked cooperatively over the years to upgrade the gravel roads on the local system. In order to have a balanced workload between winter and summer, the Road Commission performs local road construction to prepare the roads for contract paving. The Kent County Road Commission Maintenance Division is also responsible for maintaining most State highways in Kent County under a contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation. These roads are shown in red on the County map. Examples of these roads include I-96, I-196, US-131, M-6, M-37, M-46, and M-50. Types of work performed include plowing snow, patching holes, mowing the roadside, ditch cleanout, sweeping, guardrail repair, and some joint repair on concrete pavement. (616 Area Code)

Planning and Human Resources Division

In the area of Planning, this Division is responsible for evaluating the needs of the County road system and identifying major improvement priorities.  In addition, Staff works in cooperation with other units of government to coordinate transportation planning activities and seeks out grant funding for major improvement projects. In the area of Human Resources, the Division is responsible for employee relations, training, recruiting, benefit administration, worker's compensation and organization improvement. (616 Area Code)

Traffic and Safety Division

The responsibilities of the Traffic and Safety Division include traffic controls and property damage claims. Traffic controls include signing, signals, and pavement markings. The Safety Division also investigates unauthorized activities and encroachments in the right-of-way. Property damage claims should be directed to the Safety Division for investigation. (616 Area Code)

Copyright© 1999-2008 Kent County Road Commission
1500 Scribner Avenue NW. • Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504

Email: kentroad@kentcountyroads.net