Dearborn Heights, MI - Mayor Ruth A. Canfield

Beech Daly Road Partnership

The Cities of Inkster and Dearborn Heights recently widened 1.4 miles of Beech Daly Road, a boundary between the two communities, in an effort to revitalize an area that was badly deteriorated and contributing to a lag in development along its route. Both communities shared concerns about what was occurring along their common border, concerns that included environmental deficiencies, abandonment, infrastructure needs, disinvestment, unrelated patterns of land uses, and a concentration of parcels under public ownership.

With joint consideration, cooperation and funding needed to accomplish this complex project, the two cities entered into a partnership agreement which was implemented at the initiation of the construction work in February 1995. By the time the restoration of the entire area was completed in the fall of 1996, the benefits of partnering could be seen in the interaction of the contractor, engineering staff, project administration staff, and the staffs of both cities; in cost reduction; and in overall project results.

The Beech Daly Road experience demonstrated that, although the use of partnering concepts on a project often adds to initial costs, the total project costs often are lower. Initial expenses may include staff time in meetings to establish the partnering team and the cost of a facilitator to conduct a formal workshop. Reductions in project costs may include more timely problem resolution, paperwork reduction, reduction and possible elimination of litigation, closer adherence to schedule, and a higher quality project overall. Partnering also can benefit a client's public image, create a cooperative work atmosphere, improve project safety, improve project cleanup and restoration, and unify public communication.

For this project, to which Inkster contributed $530,000 in CDBG funds for water main construction, costs were reduced by approximately nine percent, a savings of $937,362 for the two communities. A complex project which easily could have taken two years to complete, the Beech Daly Road project was completed in less than one.

Contact: Clarence Oden, Jr., Director, Community Development, City of Inkster, (313) 563-9764

The United States Conference of Mayors

J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
1620 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352

Copyright ©1999, U.S. Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved.