Double-Digit Increase Expected in Cost of Construction Barrels

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

With no deal yet to raise $1.2 billion a year needed to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads, the state got some more bad news: The orange barrels that guide motorists around construction could cost from 32 percent to 43 percent more than the old model.

That’s because Michigan, like 17 other states, is expected to switch to a new barrel design with fluorescent reflective sheeting on the orange and white stripes that makes them easier to see in low-light conditions, such as at dusk or in rainy weather, the Detroit Free Press reports.

About 35 percent of the nearly 2,000 annual work zone accidents in Michigan occur when it’s cloudy or rainy, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

MDOT estimates it will cost less than $2 million over four years to make the switch because suppliers are making special offers to make them available at current costs of $51 to $85 each.

The actual costs of the new barrels range from $73 to $112 each.

“This is to me the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen Michigan do,” said Frank Powelson, president and owner of Poco in Canton, which currently supplies some of the barrels for Michigan road projects.

He estimates the switch will cost $10 million upfront and more down the road because, he said, the new barrels are inferior to the current design. He claims the reflective sheeting is less flexible than the sheeting currently used, wrinkles when barrels expand and contract in the heat and cold, and then dislodges when the barrels are stacked for transport.

“Michigan cannot afford to fill a pothole, and we are now going to spend millions of dollars to change the sheeting on a drum so someone can see the drum better in the daytime?” he said.

Another supplier, Michael Mooney, vice president and owner of Give ’Em A Brake Safety of Grandville, thinks the new design improves safety and should be adopted statewide by MDOT. His company began supplying the new barrels two years ago.

“If there is a safer option out there, why wouldn’t we go to that?” Mooney said. “That’s our point of view – we’re in the safety business.”

Mooney discounts critics, who he said “just didn’t want to see a change, because it would cost money to make that change.”

MDOT spokesman Tim Fischer acknowledged the switch comes at a cost, but said “the improved safety benefit is well worth it.”

He said the barrels represent a “very minimal” percentage of the amount MDOT pays its contractors for construction projects.

The new barrels are being used on some construction projects with “very good results,” said Chris Brookes, a work zone delivery engineer for MDOT.

If the new barrel design is adopted, the change would be phased in over about four years, Brookes said.

The older barrels wouldn’t be classified as obsolete right away, he said.