Engineering

The City of Battle Creek is proud to be a Bicycle Friendly Community -- one of only 12 in Michigan in 2018.

The city first achieved bronze status in 2014. Our Bicycle Advisory Committee and staff have worked continually to improve bicycle amenities, earning us silver status in the fall of 2017.

Read our silver report card.

BFC silver

Responsibilities

The Engineering Administrator reports to the Public Works Director and is responsible for the design and construction of all street, bridge, water and sewer improvement projects in the city. The Engineering staff is also responsible for maintaining all  public infrastructure records for the city. Applications to connect to the public water and sewer systems and permits to work in the street right-of-way may be obtained from the Engineering Office.

Road Surface Treatments

The City of Battle Creek Engineering Division is responsible for selecting annual road treatments of approximately 300 miles of road. The process involves a review of our street system, then prioritizing roads based upon actual condition. Before a street is treated, a press release will be issued for major roads notifying all of the necessary authorities of the road closure. For projects affecting 50 or fewer residents, door hangers will be distributed with of the time and type of treatment that is to take place, and any special instructions that should be followed during the treatment process. For more information or questions about road treatments, please contact the Engineering Division at 966-3343.

See the current street treatment maps below. These are subject to change, based on the city budget.
  1. Pavement 101 (PDF)
  2. 2021 Street Treatment
  3. 2022 Street Treatments
  4. 2021 Street Treatment Map
  5. 2023 Street Treatments

Stormwater Management

May 2020 Stormwater Management Program Technical Reference Manual. There is no fee for this manual, as grant dollars funded this edition.

The City of Battle Creek’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit with the Michigan Environmental, Great Lakes, and Energy Department required changes to the Battle Creek Area Technical Reference Manual in 2019. 

Rule changes from the 2012 TRM emphasizes water quality and volume control. For sites over a half-acre, the first flush volume has increased from a half-inch over new hard surfaces to an inch over the entire site’s composite development. These rule changes also give prominence to the use of low-impact design, and detention basins over retention basins. Rules have been set to discourage retention basins as the sole method for stormwater management.

Designers and developers -- check out this interactive spreadsheet to calculate your volumes!

Traffic Engineering

The Traffic Engineering Manager reports to the City Engineer and is responsible for designing and ensuring proper installation of all traffic control systems, (i.e., traffic signals, signs, and pavement markings), and for conducting all traffic safety and operations studies for City streets.