The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has reopened Orion Road at Dutton Road on the Rochester Hills/Oakland Township border following emergency repairs after part of the road was washed away in flooding on July 16.
RCOC previously expected to be able to open the road the week of Aug. 4 when it completed road repairs. While the road repairs were completed by Aug. 4, Consumers Energy ran into challenges repairing its service damaged in the flooding, and the road could not safely be opened until that work was done.
RCOC repaired a culvert under the road and backfilled the area washed away by the flooding. The washed-out section was repaved, new guardrail installed and new pavement markings were placed.
RCOC does not control the scheduling of utility company work, and the road was reopened as soon as the utility work and minor road repairs (the result of utility cuts in the pavement necessary for the work) were completed.
“We appreciate the public’s patience as we worked to make emergency repairs to this road following the unexpected flooding,” stated RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar. “We know this was an inconvenience and we and the utility companies did everything we could to get the work done as quickly as possible.”
