Macomb County Drain Project to Alleviate Flooding in Industrial Area of Sterling Heights

A flood-prone industrial area of Sterling Heights will get some needed relief, thanks to a significant storm drain project by the Macomb County Public Works Office.

The painstaking removal of approximately 50 years of hardened sediment buildup continues in the underground pipe that's part of the 2-mile-long Vokes Relief Drain, near Van Dyke Avenue, between 18 ½ Mile and 19 Mile roads.

"It wasn't just mush. There's a lot of road grit and debris that has hardened and is several feet thick," county Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said.

The area has had more instances of flooding in recent years with the increased frequency of short, high-intensity rain events. Following complaints to Sterling Heights officials about flooding in the area, city administrators asked the Public Works Office to investigate.

Sand, silt, road grit and debris created such dense and hardened mounds of sediment built up for the past 50 years, that crews needed picks, hydraulic hammers and shovels to break up compacted layers of sediment before it could be vacuumed out. This past spring, an old, rusted wheelbarrow was found in the debris of the sewer.

The project involves the cleaning and inspection of almost 4,000 linear feet of large-diameter elliptical pipe that ranges in size from 5 feet-by-7 feet, to 7 ½ feet-by-12 feet. In addition, there are three lateral connections made of round, reinforced concrete pipe ranging in diameter from 12 inches to 5 feet, that comprise an additional 3,500 feet to be cleaned and inspected.

The underground services contractor began working on the sediment removal in 2023. However, several weeks of operational hours to break up the sediment and vacuum it out have been delayed when heavy rainstorms filled the enclosed portions of the Vokes Drain, requiring it to be pumped out further downstream to where the drain daylights at the outfall of the pipe to the open channel portion located east from Van Dyke toward the Clinton River.

Weather permitting, officials hope the sediment removal will be completed in October.

Thus far, the ongoing work has cost approximately $500,000.

The cost will be split between the drainage district, the county and the City of Sterling Heights under a cost-sharing program spearheaded by Miller during her first term which uses an annual allocation by the Macomb County Board of Commissioners to help the county and participating municipalities to tackle high-priority stormwater management projects will stretching dollars efficiently.

"This is a critical drain maintenance project that the city and county have invested in to protect homes and businesses in our upper Van Dyke corridor by reducing the risk of flooding. It demonstrates the commitment we're making on behalf of companies of all sizes and the residents in the area," Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor said.

Miller said the sediment buildup is another example of large, enclosed drains that should have been inspected and maintained decades ago - before significant problems develop.

"We have to correct some problems from the past, but we also have to look to the future, so that future generations don't have the same situation than what we found here," Miller said. "We're not just doing this for the immediacy, we're doing it for our children, for our grandchildren.

Looking ahead, the Macomb County Public Works Office is working with Sterling Heights city administrators to develop a long-term maintenance plan for the Vokes Drain. County Public Works engineers and construction managers also are exploring the possibility of conducting a flow study to evaluate the potential of modifying the weir just east of Van Dyke and any other efforts that may reduce the potential for flooding in the area.

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