Commission Approves Napier Work

napieravenue2-10
napieravenue2-10

Napier Avenue in St. Joseph Township and Benton Township will finally be getting that road diet this year. The Berrien County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved moving forward with an $873,000 project that will result in Napier being a three lane road from Colfax Avenue to just before M-139. County Administrator Bill Wolf said this will not alter the fundamental structure of the road.

“They’re going to stripe it for a three lane, and the curbs are going to stay exactly where they are,” Wolf said. “There’s nothing that’s being done that can’t be undone if three lanes causes unnecessary congestion.”

This is the second half of the road diet plan. The first half, already approved by the county commission, will be turning Napier from the St. Joseph River to Colfax into a three lane road. That was supposed to have been done last year, but a strike postponed it. Now, that work will be done in July. The phase approved this week, from Colfax to M-139, will be done after Labor Day. The idea is that having two lanes of travel and a central turn lane will reduce crashes.