Two buildings sit side by side on the south edge of West Bloomfield. Connect Senior Center is at 33230 W 14 Mile Road. Qahwah House's West Bloomfield café is a few doors down at 33260. A 48-inch prestressed concrete water main runs under the road in front of them. It is part of a stretch that stretches about three miles, from just west of Haggerty Road to just east of Farmington Road.
The pipe is coming out this month. West Bloomfield Township says work starts in mid to late November and runs about two years. Eastbound 14 Mile stays open to local traffic, westbound is closed, and the detour is W. Maple. One building on that stretch matters to more than drivers. WB Parks runs all of its walk-in services out of Connect until the township's new community center opens in 2028. So the township's front door sits on the closed stretch for the whole project, and the road and the building that replaces Connect are set to finish in the same year.
Why the whole road closes at once
Two approaches were on the table, and the full closure is the faster one. At an August 10, 2026 study session, the Great Lakes Water Authority walked the Farmington Hills City Council through both options. Closing the full three miles to through traffic is 15 months shorter than working in smaller segments, with more confidence in the schedule. It also means the whole corridor gets repaved at once. The minutes record GLWA CEO Suzanne Coffey calling "moving rapidly" the most important mitigation strategy available. To keep the pace up, two crews will work at the same time. One starts at the Farmington Road end and the other near Halsted Road, and both move west.
The urgency comes from the pipe's record. C&G Newspapers reported in June that Coffey told West Bloomfield trustees this main had failed in 2017, 2021, 2025 and 2026. The most recent break came on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 14 Mile and Verona. It flooded the area, and water-rescue crews freed four people from three vehicles. Novi and Walled Lake went under a boil-water advisory, and C&G noted that West Bloomfield got its pressure back without needing one.
The replacement is a 54-inch steel main, part of an investment of about $81 million. According to GLWA's project FAQ, the authority expects no effect on household water service during construction. Traffic is the cost, and GLWA expects the heaviest impact between M-5 and Farmington Road.
The township's walk-in desk is on the closed stretch
Connect opened in August 2023. It is a 9,000-square-foot senior gathering place with a lounge and a full program calendar. Its role grew beyond that, though. WB Parks' Fall Guide for September through December 2026 says all walk-in services happen at Connect until the new community center opens in 2028. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the phone number is 248-451-1900.
GLWA has committed to keeping access to homes and businesses open throughout construction, and to notifying people of traffic changes and detours ahead of time. Connect stays reachable. The route to it changes based on which direction you're coming from.
The building that will take over that walk-in role is on schedule to open around the same time the road reopens. The future community center at 4640 Walnut Lake Road was 19% complete at the end of September. Masonry was scheduled for November, and the project director expected a roof by winter, C&G reported on October 30. Once it opens, the township's front door moves off 14 Mile to Walnut Lake Road, next to Town Hall at 4550 Walnut Lake.
| Destination | Address | How the project touches it |
|---|---|---|
| Connect Senior Center | 33230 W 14 Mile Rd. | On the closed stretch; access to the building is maintained |
| Qahwah House | 33260 W 14 Mile Rd. | On the closed stretch; access to businesses is maintained |
| Hunter's Square | Orchard Lake Rd. and 14 Mile Rd., Farmington Hills | At a corridor intersection, already in the middle of a redevelopment |
| Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum | 6427 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield | Moved off the 14 Mile corner this fall |
| Future community center | 4640 Walnut Lake Rd. | Under construction, with a 2028 opening |
The Orchard Lake corner started changing first
At Orchard Lake Road, the 14 Mile corner was already being rebuilt before any pipe work began. Crain's Detroit Business reported that RH Outlet opened at Hunter's Square in late August as the first completed phase of an estimated $50 million redevelopment. More construction is going on to its north.
The plaza's best-known tenant had already moved. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum left its old Farmington Hills strip mall in January 2025. According to WXYZ, the city council there had approved a redevelopment that made room for a new Meijer. In February, Hometown Life reported that the museum was getting ready to reopen at Orchard Mall in West Bloomfield. It finally opened on Sunday, October 25, at 6427 Orchard Lake Road next to Planet Fitness, after plumbing problems pushed back a planned May opening. WXYZ put its hours at 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
That puts the arcade about a mile up Orchard Lake Road from its old corner. Its address is now on Orchard Lake Road, not 14 Mile, and it opened less than a month before the 14 Mile closure. Anyone planning a weekend trip with the kids or with visiting family can now find it without starting at the old 14 Mile corner.
Farther west, the posted detour covers the whole corridor. The township's long-term detour map is labeled "Permanent Detour - Full Duration of the Project." It marks W. Maple along with 14 Mile, M-5, Haggerty, Halsted, Drake, Farmington and Orchard Lake roads. If you drive west in the evening toward the Haggerty Road restaurants that filled in this year, your route now goes along Maple.
What happens when, through 2028
The project runs on two published schedules. Here are the dates in order:
- Mid to late November 2026. Phase One starts, according to the township, and 14 Mile becomes eastbound-only for local traffic between Haggerty and Farmington.
- Winter 2026–27. The roof is expected to go on the new community center at 4640 Walnut Lake Road.
- January 2028. GLWA expects Phase One pipe work to be finished.
- Spring 2028. GLWA's target for restoration work along the corridor.
- 2028. WB Parks expects the new community center to open, and walk-in services move off 14 Mile.
- August 2028. The Farmington Hills study session minutes give this as the target for final paving and substantial completion.
- By the end of December 2028. GLWA expects to finish Phase Two. That phase covers the main east of Farmington Road to the Franklin Pump Station on Inkster Road, with inspection and any needed repairs.
Phase Two also adds something new under the road. GLWA will install an Acoustic Fiber Optic monitoring system inside the pipe. It listens for the wire breaks that signal a prestressed concrete main is wearing out. GLWA's July announcement said the technology is new to Michigan. Its first in-state use was earlier this year, in another section of 14 Mile in Novi. On this project, the cable goes into the three-mile section from Farmington Road to the Franklin Pump Station on Inkster Road.
More on the township's roads, trails and daily rhythms is on our West Bloomfield neighborhood page, including how the West Bloomfield Trail now continues past Haggerty Road.
If your home is near the 14 Mile corridor and you'd like a quiet conversation about how a construction schedule running into 2028 fits your own plans, Crain Homes is glad to help. Request a Confidential Valuation and we'll go over the corridor's timeline with you in private.
