It’s a relief to sit back after a big project and simply think about how well it went.

No concerns about cost overruns, about problems, about how it didn’t go quite as planned. Instead, just a feeling of satisfaction that something good happened for the city.

That was the flavor of the conversation Monday night when city council wrapped up the Mill Street/Locust Street project.

“It was just another great experience of working with the state,” said city clerk/administrator Renée Schroeder.

She praised the work by city supervisor Barney Vanderpool who stepped in and served as inspector to save the city a large amount of cash. Vanderpool, in turn, pointed out the efforts of former council member Scott Merillat who used his civil engineer ing experience to help the project move forward.

And Schroeder was thanked by council member Keith Pennington for her cooperative efforts in working with the state, with Consumers Energy and with the contractors involved in the project.

It wasn’t just a back-patting session Monday. It was more like the celebration of a successful project to better the city.

State and local funding were combined to help the city attain several goals. Mill Street is reopened and rebuilt. Locust Street is extended and resurfaced.

Sewer and water lines are in place, ready to handle development on the property once owned by the Henkel Corporation. Water pressure is improved for fire safety, an alternate route for rescue vehicles is now in place without passing through downtown, and children have a way to reach Wakefield Park without riding a bicycle down Main Street.

Congestion is relieved behind Borchardt Brothers Market and a new parking area is in place should the market expand in the future.

That’s a good list of achievements for one project, funded largely with state money.

We’ll add our thanks to those mentioned above. An excellent project is now complete due to the foresight and hard work of those involved.