At Angelo Iafrate Construction Co., we’ve been in the heavy-civil construction and transportation industry since our inception.
As an employee-owned company that has built its reputation on excellence, innovation, and quality, we place significant value in our employees, the services we provide, and our expertise in the industry.
We take great pride in our work fixing Michigan’s roads and, helping to improve vital infrastructure that we all rely on to get to work, school and more. Our crews are hard at work making tight state and local construction budgets stretch as far as possible, fixing what we can with what we have.
One recent project that was a big success was the replacement of nearly six miles of M-59 in Macomb County. That corridor is one of Michigan’s most trafficked roads, with a daily volume of more than 90,000 vehicles.
Over a two-year period beginning in 2017, we removed and replaced the eight-lane boulevard without having to shut down the road, which was critical to ensuring that customers and 23,000 employees could access the 1,200 establishments in that area.
Another major project that we began in the spring of 2021 is reconstructing 24 lane miles of M-3, Gratiot Avenue — a major state trunkline highway that connects downtown Detroit to the suburbs of Macomb County.
The project, expected to be completed later this year, will also include much-needed upgrades for troubled and aging sewer and drainage systems to better help with stormwater.
Even though our construction crews have been busy working to fix what we can, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. Michigan residents routinely rate roads as one of their top concerns.
The American Society of Civil Engineers graded Michigan’s overall infrastructure as a D+ and the state’s roads a D- grade. In 2018, it was estimated that Michigan may need an additional $4 billion annually to deal with the necessary infrastructure repairs.
What Michigan needs is a long-term, sustainable investment in infrastructure, with funding for roads, bridges, water, and sewer systems, and more.
Infrastructure is the foundation of our everyday lives and touches all parts of how we live, work, and play in Michigan. It is the responsibility of Michigan’s leaders to develop a plan that dedicates the needed funds to these critical infrastructure needs. The plan should support innovative policies, increased state funding, and prioritization of public health and safety.
In addition, Michigan needs funding for more than just major projects like freeway repairs and upgrades. We also need investments made in all our roadways, such as multi-lane highways, arterial and collector roads, and county and city streets. These are the roads that make our state work.
Drive anywhere in Michigan, and you will find roads in disrepair. Currently, Michigan is experiencing one of the worst pothole seasons we’ve ever had.
While funding from the federal infrastructure plan and state bonding is going to help with some repairs, we are nowhere near the amount of funding needed to adequately fix Michigan’s roads.
At Angelo Iafrate Construction, we’re doing what we can with what we have. We’re working with state and local communities to make their budgets stretch as far as possible, while delivering high quality road and infrastructure repairs and upgrades. Michigan’s leaders must do more now, or the vast problems we have with our roads will continue to plague Michigan residents.
This story appeared in Crain’s Detroit Business. For more, click here.