MyWHaT

Traverse City was recently re-introduced to the idea of roundabouts as a possible solution for our traffic woes along Division St. The editorial board of MyWHaT fully endorses the concept.

Why not? They work. They improve safety. They improve flow. Done right, they help the street be a place.

The issues along Division St. as identified through meetings with neighborhood & regional stakeholders.

The design charrette was an open, public participatory process and roundabouts emerged as the option that would best satisfy the concerns of the community:

• safety
• access
• context sensitive
• quality

I have driven on roundabouts; they work fine. Still, I had initial reservations when they were suggested. Really? In Traverse City? I quickly realized that my concerns are part of the process and that a little research revealed my concerns were based on misunderstandings that almost every community initially expresses.

Participating in the charrette, watching the presentations and doing my own research, I’m satisfied that once refined, the above concept for Division St. will accomplish what we need.

I’m also confident that the community is open and ready to accept a proven design that will:

• Enhance increased safety for both pedestrians and motorists.
• Provide improved accessibility across the great divide for those on bicycles.
• The slower intersection speeds, improved visibility and pedestrian right-0f-way at crosswalks will improve access for people with disabilities. (Still, there are enhanced solutions that exist to make the crossings even more universally accessible. They should be included.)
• Improve access to over 200 acres of adjacent parkland on the west side of Division Street, as well as the Commons, the hospital and over 500 additional acres of parkland.
• Give Traverse City’s entry point a unique character that defines the city as a special place that celebrates parkland and neighborhoods.

Educated Discussion & Support Critical

Click for Full Screen or to download PDF

Please share this poster with your friends and family. Utilize the online resources on roundabouts to learn about why more and more departments of transportation are switching to the modern roundabout, even making their consideration a priority.

A good start is this myths & facts about roundabouts.

This is a bold change to reclaim this corridor as a more inclusive part of the neighborhood. It CAN be both a highway and a calmer a street, but it will take design to accomplish that. Roundabouts have been prescribed and will work; small tweaks will only frustrate us for the 20-30 years. If not roundabouts, what other creative solution is there that addresses all of the issues?

• Please, share your comments on MyWHaT and on the Plan for TC web site, and also send them to the Grand Vision, the city commission, the county road commission, MDOT, the chamber of commerce, the newspapers…Community leaders need to lead on this issue.
• A key group of leaders that will be critical are the neighborhood presidents. We need to email the associations’ to encourage them to recognize a need and neighborhood support for change. Most of these neighborhood group’s will be meeting in May, so get on their mailing lists and be vocal.

Comments need not be lengthy; just let them know what you are for and why. Ultimately, this decision will come down to the city commission choosing to request MDOT to move forward. They need support to be bold.

As the majority of our public space,  our streets need to do more than provide for the single use of motorized vehicles. Without support & advocacy from citizens, Division Street will potentially, and increasingly, remain a divide for the city.

We have been presented with a game changer; let’s have a reasoned discussion based on technical merits and whether or not this will enhance the community’s values and vision.

Rock it. No more red lights!

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Monday’s Quote

Most people are more frightened of failure than of mediocrity. It should be the reverse.

Failure is a broken leg — painful, but easily fixed. Mediocrity is a creeping disease — invisible and insidious — that disables so completely that there’s often no recovery.

Daniel Pink, on his BLOG.

Where can you apply this thought today?

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