My Wheels are Turning

UPDATED 09/03: Additional contacts added below.

Peter’s guest post about how a community’s choice between one-way and two-way streets reflects its values is poignant. It’s not just on this BLOG that residents are talking about street design and use.  There are neighborhood traffic committees, both official, ad hoc and impromptu discussions happening on front porches, alleyways and sidewalks across the city. Presentations by a leading traffic engineer generated large audiences in middle of summer.

Street design is sexy!

The practice of building and maintaining streets at a minimal level of innovation is no longer acceptable. Streets and right-of-way reflect most of our public space and we’re beginning to realize that it’s insane to let a single-use run amok.

Focus on State Street: The Forgotten Child

As Peter mentioned in his post this morning, we have a focal point in the proposed West Front parking deck that requires innovation and strategic planning to manage the extra motorized traffic that it will create. Yes, the deck will grease the wheels of ‘development’ in that corridor, but will it be car focused or people focused development? State Street, as designed now, is primarily populated by businesses focused on serving people in cars. In between businesses are parking lots, both public and private, most of it very cheap. It’s not true that parking decks aren’t subsidized. The external costs to the surrounding neighborhoods are high.

An all out strategic plan for the entire city needs to go with any state of the art blue print and economic promises accompanying the West End parking deck. The first two-parking decks did not, it’s a requirement for the third downtown parking deck in a decade. We can begin by asking for elimination of the State Street one-way.

Supporting a Smart Choice

It’s my understanding that city staff isn’t necessarily opposed to this idea and they need to know that we, the citizens of the region, are aware of the issue and support, at the least, the idea, if not full implementation. Below is my draft of a letter to send to the city manager, his assistant and the city planner. I limited its scope and readers will certainly have additional recommendations. Share them with us here in the comment section and then share them with the city staff.

EMAIL CONTACTS: Please consider drafting your own (use mine as a model if you need to) and send it to: bbifoss@traversecitymi.gov • Ben Bifoss, city manager; mvitous@ci.traverse-city.mi.us • Makayla Vitous, assistant to cm; rsoyring@ci.traverse-city.mi.us • Russ Soyring, city planner.

Also, the staff and board chairperson of the Downtown Development Authority need to be included: bryan@downtowntc.com • Bryan Crough, E. D. & Community Development Director; rob@downtowntc.com • Rob Bacigalupi, Deputy Director; ncf1997@aol.com • Burian, Robert C., Chairperson.

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To City Manager R. Ben Bifoss and staff,

Lately, there has been a lot of attention focused on the design of our streets. Count me as one of the voices that believe that we can design them to better reflect the values of city residents. The neighborhoods have voiced their desire to live in a city that isn’t dominated by, and built solely for the convenience of the motorist. The list of prescriptions is lengthy, however, there is an opportunity now to fix one of the forgotten streets: State Street.

I support converting State Street from a one-way street back into a two-way street, including the short section of Pine Street.  The proposed West Front parking deck is an excellent impetus to kick-start this conversion. The parking deck will purposefully increase the amount of motorized traffic in our city. That needs countering with any and all professional recommendations possible to reduce the negative impacts that will occur. The parking deck doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There will be consequences for other modes of transportation, as well as on the economic vibrancy & livability of adjacent parts of the downtown  and in the neighborhoods. A strategic plan to deal with the impact needs to be more than simply converting a street back to a two-way, but it is a start to the conversation that must occur. (I’d be happy to sit with you to explore more changes and enhancements that need to occur, like a real reduction in surface parking, raising the price of street parking, and leading edge traffic calming and LID storm-water treatment.)

A walk along the route is revealing, the 3 decade long experiment of a one-way street on State Street has hindered economic activity, active transportation, transit and increased safety concerns downtown. One-way streets are known to create excessive speeds, unnecessary circling (which leads to congestion and reduced downtown desirability) and a decrease in walkability and bikability. Front Street is successful and our city would be much improved if we could emulate, improve and augment that on another street.

One-way streets have one purpose: moving cars quickly through a place at high speeds. On State Street, it is also built to provide parking for Front Street. We, as a community, have moved beyond this need. It no longer makes sense to maintain a 1960′s traffic experiment.

I would like to see the city move forward. Plans for the west end parking deck need to include a redesign of State St. back to a two-way street among other changes to our street network.

How can I help you make this conversion?

Sincerely,

Gary L Howe

Traverse City Michigan

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Peter’s posts are at:

• Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities
• Part II: A One-Way Desert of Parking: State Street

Is State St. Simply Front St.’s Parking Lot?

Guest Contributor: Peter Spaulding, part 2 of 3.

Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities

What does the average citizen or visitor to Traverse City think of State Street?

When I look at it I see a waste of space, a desert of parking and a one-way street that serves only to provide smooth access to parking. Maybe others see it differently, but State Street is by no means an example of a street done right in Traverse City. Nice landscaping and street trees fail to make it a livable street; the few businesses that attempt to exist on or even between it and Front are fighting a difficult battle against terrible urban design. It is a boring, unpleasant and uninhabitable place for humans and businesses alike.

Wayfinding on State St. says a lot: Front St. District (photo GLHowe)

State Street’s woes begin with its subordinate relationship to Front Street. Whether actively decided upon or simply defaulted to, State Street became over time the automotive dumping ground for Front Street, a basically understandable and common outcome. The mall, the strip mall, and easy parking enthralled suburban consumers throughout the latter part of the last century; many well-meaning planners and downtown businesses blew their cities apart in unfortunate attempts to compete.

Now the time has come to take the necessary steps to realize State Street’s latent potential, and make it a testament to livability and activity in Traverse City instead of an embarrassment.

Dumping Ground for Parking

The most glaring problem with State Street is its overwhelming dedication to parking, but creating new public places for people to inhabit and enjoy is possible. Changing to a two-way orientation would immediately convert State Street from a temporary space to pass through into a place where people come together. The slowing of traffic and the visibility, walkability, and accessibility created would immediately make non-parking development on State Street more feasible and appealing.

Changes to State Street would also improve the functioning of present and future parking decks downtown. The Hardy Parking Deck would become more accessible, reduce circling traffic, and improve operation of Park Street’s intersections as the 101 N. Park building begins to draw visitors and residents. Without a State Street conversion, significant new development associated with a parking garage at Pine and Front could create significant problems. Problems at Front and Union, and along West Front to Division would limit accessibility to the deck, reduce the success of new businesses and create confusion and congestion that motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists would all be affected by.

Wide open. The trees do little to counter the real purpose of State St, as designed now: the storage of cars & moving motor vehicles through town, quickly (photo: GLHowe).

Move Away from One-way Streets, Beginning with State Street

While a Front Street conversion would be doable and ideal, an easy and necessary first step would be to convert State Street as soon as possible. We will have a prime opportunity as the DDA is set to erect their third parking deck in the near future. Leaving behind the one-way orientation of the past would help to eliminate the use of State Street as solely a conduit for the easy entrance and exit of Front Street traffic.

Present and future parking decks give us an opportunity we as a city can’t afford to miss; we need to make State Street a quality place. By reverting to two-way operation and developing significant new housing (including affordable housing), shops and restaurants on parking lots we no longer need, we will more fully use our investment in structured parking and increase investment in our city. Traverse City will still be a small town, it will just be a more compact and vibrant, and less dedicated to the automobile and its unfortunate storage requirements.

Let’s choose to enjoy State Street as a place, and take the steps necessary to make it happen in the next 5-10 years.

• Part I: One-way & Two-way Streets Reflect a Community’s Priorities

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Editor’s Note: Peter is hitting on something expressed before by others. Some have even expressed it on this BLOG in comments (thanks JRW).  I support the idea of tying a conversion of State St. back to a two-way street to the likely construction of the West Front Street parking deck. So far, I’ve heard no discussion of how the city plans to handle the increased motorized traffic through the city, as well as downtown, the third parking deck will create; I’ve tried.

I’ll post a follow-up on this, and a small call to action, later today.

Spotting Social Trails

Social trail along Fair St. looking north towards NMC’s entrance.

This social trail caught my eye for the little bend towards the road. On this busy neighborhood street, most people are resistant to walk in what we assume are people’s front yards. So, they take to the streets. However, just because there is no sidewalk present doesn’t mean that the public right of way doesn’t exist. On a busier street, the view south at this point would still have a social trail as people would refuse to walk in the street. South to 8th Street there is no sidewalk.

The view south. Nice lawns, but it remains the public right of way.

This sidewalk is obviously well-traveled. The school, restaurant, church and civic center are all attractions. What we aren’t seeing when we accept this lack of infrastructure is the inequality that it promotes. Imagine traversing this with crutches, a wheel chair, as an 8 or 80-year-old. Or, with your shoes tied together. Then, going the rest of the way to 8th Street along the street. In this case, it’s not what makes for a walkable city.

The adjacent property owners may not initially like it, but this goes on my ‘priority sidewalk‘ list.

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ATTENTION: Are you seeing social trails in Traverse City? The city engineer is currently collecting data on the existing sidewalk network (or lack thereof) and has asked for help in spotting social trails. The social trails will help prioritize where the city constructs sidewalks for the coming decade. I’ve started to collect some (Flickr photo Set) and have written about a few, but I know there are more out there. If you want to send comment with a location, I will get an image and send it on to the city engineer. Or, send an image and description to him and the city planner directly (copy MyWHaT as well so we can keep a running list).

It should be noted, the criteria for prioritization will also consider the size and volumes of streets and whether the proposed sidewalk would fill a missing link, not just social trail placement.

sidewalks won’

Happy spotting and shooting.

A couple of weeks ago, MyWHaT organized an observational walk of the Division St. corridor between Grandview and 14th St. The goal was not to solve the issues, but to get a street level understanding of them. Looking for a combination of observing what’s there or not there, how people navigate the corridor and acquiring some emotional intelligence of the experience.

Front St. intersection is an example of unfriendly pedestrian crossing, despite attempts to make it better. Crosswalk is close to traffic, side of road is uneven and notice the location of the pedestrian light in the middle of the sidewalk.

For the latter, it was apparent that spending two-hours along this route wasn’t the most uplifting way to start one’s morning. One of the participants, Dave Skibowski, sent me a comment to this effect after the walk:

“Wow! One certainly gets a different perspective by walking Division from the Parkway to 14th, then when driving it.“

The gathering

A group of about 10 met up at 8am at the Veteran’s Memorial Park at Bay & Division. There was a healthy mix of interests and backgrounds that was reflected in the discussions, albeit conversation was spaced between moments of heavy traffic and at times surprisingly little traffic. My observations are mainly taken from my notes and are influenced by discussions during & after the walk. I’ve organized them in one block chunks, working south from Grandview Parkway.

Note: these notes tend to be more like an audit than originally intended, and instead of fighting it, I’ve allowed commentary to occasionally slip into the post. More images from the Division St. walk are on Flickr, click images to view the set.

Section One: Grandview to Randolph

Physical observations

• Deteriorated pedestrian crossing at Grandview. Uneven, pot-holes and faded paint.
  
• Social trail on east side of Grandview crossing connecting to Bay St.
• Ramp sidewalk at Bay and Division St. that goes into Division with out crosswalk.
  
• No sidewalk on east side running length of the block.
  
• Unintentional parking on Bay St. communicates a lack of value to the place.
  

Other observations

• Veteran’s memorial park entrance is more of a wall than an invitation. The open lawn needs a project to add vitality to it. This will help the character of the place be more people orientated.
  
• The service entrance to the Elk’s Club and the adjacent vacant lot (where for sale automobiles are often parked) do little to communicate the mixed-use character of the corridor. It is drab, run-down and encourages people to ‘quickly move through’. Nothing to see here, keep moving.
  

Section two: Randolph to Front St.

Physical observations

School crossing at 2nd Street in front of school is narrow, ill-defined and poorly placed.

• Narrow or no separation between sidewalk and street. (Issue along entire corridor)
• Pedestrian crossings at alleys are not defined well.
• Poor storm-water drainage in crosswalk at 2nd St. ramp.
• Sidewalk from 2nd. to Front St. is cracked and uneven.
• On street surface, there is a big lip dropping into gutter.

Other observations

Broken sidewalk at gas station at Front St.

• Driveway access is bountiful. some businesses have multiple entry points to their parking lots. The impact is an increase in conflict points for all users and a clear communication that this place has been designed solely for automobile use.
• The Randolph intersection has no crosswalks in any direction despite supporting a large number of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. neighborhoods and businesses on both sides of Division St. here would suggest that the people centered development could really boost the economic chances of this section.
• Division St. passes over Kids Creek and you’d never know it. It is overgrown and dark section. It’s a shame as Kids Creek as historical significance to the city and water bodies can be used to help make a place somewhere to be rather than to simply pass through.

Section three: Front St. to 7th Street.

Physical observations

• Lack of sidewalk on east side, south of Front for entire length.
• Timing of pedestrian signals is quick. Red flashing signals communicate anxiety, not encouragement.
• Faded, broken up crosswalks at 7th St.

Crosswalks faded and set too close to moving traffic, with a large unused gap between stop bar and crosswalk.

Other observations

• Street lighting is non-existent on edges and overhead lighting is dim and unattractive. Barely noticeable. It was mentioned that it was like hanging a single incandescent in a room.

Section four: 7th St. to 14th St.

Physical observations

Around 7th St., sidewalk is overgrown by bushes. Effectively pushing walkers closer to the road.

• TCLP power poles are hidden in trees.
• Sidewalk very narrow south of 8th St. (runner rage incident)
• On the west side, south of 11th, a mixed-use trail veers away from Division St. about 20 feet. Moods changed considerably with just this small distance. (recommended for north of 11th as well.)
• Lack of street trees and pedestrian scaled lighting the entire length to 14th.
• A high amount of lane shifting and inconsistent speeds. Some well over 40-mph, many at speed limit, slower and at zero as driver makes a turn.

Other observations

• Consistent breaks in traffic were noticed at 10th and Division. A rush of traffic would last for 15 seconds, followed by 40-60 seconds of little or no traffic. At times it would be clear in both directions, at other times only in one direction. This was around 9am and it was very clear that the gaps in traffic suggest there is the capacity is built for about one hour out of the day where there is more consistent traffic.
• Speed-limit south of 7th increases to 40 mph for the half-mile to 14th. (speed limits are set by the State Police at 85% of what the flow of traffic was last recorded. Precisely why design measures to slow down traffic are so crucial.)

Walls going up to separate homes and businesses from road. Increases speeds as it becomes more and more like a shoot rather than a neighborhood.

South of 8th Street, corridor visually opens up. Lack of trees and homes on west side communicates a more rural, highway setting.

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The walk was instructive. Being at the street level, walking slowly with others opens up new ways of looking at this major piece of public space that many of us complain about, but seldom really experience. This little list of observations is by no means comprehensive, but a lot longer than expected. The next walk, which I will announce later in the week needs to be shorter to allow for more than the visual observations.

• If you were one of the 10 that participated in this walk, what was your experience?
• What did you see and feel?
  
• Was it worth two hours out of your Friday morning?
  

Take back your time, take back your space.

A small band of us held the summer’s first PARK(ing) celebration in downtown Traverse City this morning. Inspired by the international movement PARK(ing) Day, we thought it was time to utilize more of the public right-of-way for human enjoyment instead of car storage. We did well. In the same amount of space typically dedicated to a car, we had a dozen people participate, even if just for a moment, and still room for our bikes, house plants, seating, table and snacks.

And it only cost $2. Cheap.

We honored the two-hour parking limit and paid our full share (minus the free half-hour). We played checkers, ate cookies, some of us worked using a nearby wi-fi and generally, we sat around and people watched. All what you’d expect people do in parks.

PARK(ing) Images

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This was easy. Anyone can do it. We weren’t bothered by anyone at all. There will be more. Ideas for next time: ping pong, a carpet of sod, a kiddy-pool and more dog biscuits.

Parting shot

Many asked how you get house plants & such downtown without a car. You do it quite easily.

Bill “No Spill” Palladino has two videos up on YouTube: “Choosing A Space and Claiming It” and “Liberal Interpretation of the Michigan Penal Code.” (I lost in the end).

What kind of park could you make?

As many cities make biking more convenient, safe and comfortable (I’m in New York, seeing it first hand), a new responsibility is emerging for the bike industry and shops to start catering to one of the growing demands of the market: European style bikesand other simple, sit-up styles. These bikes are built for comfortable commuting and running errands, like getting groceries, carrying pets and taking children to school. You know, the stuff many people do everyday, typically by women. These bikes are also meant to be stylish. Some people think pulling up to a show in an Escalade is cool; the new cool is pulling up on a cruiser or Dutch bike.

What kind of bikes do women want? And whose’s selling them those bikes?

These are things MyWHaT has mentioned before, but until yesterday had I had never met someone so passionate about making it happen. George Bliss, owner of Hudson Urban Bicycles, is such a person. Bill Palladino and I visited The HUB to check out some cargo bikes & window shop. Bliss was in the entrance way, working on a bike. After we introduced ourselves, it didn’t take long for Bliss to begin to tell us what he thought about getting more people to choose to bike in our cities, particularly New York City. He also had plenty to say on what’s making the industry so one dimensional & holding us back.

Here is a just a short clip of the visit. When he said,”bicycle advocates ruined bicycling” we knew we had someone in front of us who had something to say. We started filming as he began talking about the Dutch bike culture.

It didn’t take much to get Bliss going and a quick search shows that he is gaining attention for the keeping it simple and stylish message. Last year, there was an article titled “The wheels are turning in bike pioneer’s head” published in the Villager Press that captured much of what he voiced when the camera was turned off.

This quote from the article shows some of his frustration with the focus on mountain bikes as bikes of choice. He said, “Only in America will you see businessmen in suits all hunched over a mountain bike(a position he described to us like being held in the stockade in a public display of humiliation)It’s ridiculous. There needs to be a market of practical bikes for the average consumer.”

He’s doing his part at 136 Charles St.

What do you think? Is there something to be said for taking the “sport” out of bicycling?

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NOTE: Posted from the road, mostly on a cell phone, so my apologies for any typos. Also, be sure to check out tomorrow’s post by Bill Palladino, as he describes the economics of being car-free for the past year.

By now, most of you are aware that 8th Street reconstruction is complete. I’ve received several questions asking what is different? What isn’t? Are those bike lanes? Where are the sharrows?

The bike lanes that could have been

This post attempts to answer those questions.

Overall, the reconstruct is a positive improvement for motor vehicles. The neighbors along this stretch will also appreciate a reduction of their homes shaking due to large vehicles driving on old asphalt and the improved water lines that were the original intent of the project.

However, there was a lot that fell on the floor in regards to other modes of transportation. For fun, I spent Sunday morning walking the route with a mental clipboard, chalk and a camera for a walking audit, as well as some D.I.Y. (Dreaming It Yourself). This is just one evaluation, please chime if you see something I didn’t. Headlines linked to image where available.

The Good:

• Crosswalks: 2 late additions at Fern St. and Prospect St.  as well as road marking that is slightly textured and appears that it won’t easily fade away. There is also a new crosswalk at Bates St., as well as Grant St.
• Rose St. Crosswalk: Nice, thick strips should help announce pedestrian presence.
• ADA Accessible Ramps: It’s the law, but it is still nice. They come complete with truncated domes to assist the visually impaired.
• Garfield Intersection: All users benefit from the improved condition at this section. There might not be a bike lane, but at least we can now ride it without losing our teeth from the bumps. An improved crosswalk is now here as well.

Bold crosswalks clearly communicate the intent.

The Not Good:

• Left Hand Turn Lanes: These were not part of the previous cross-section. People were making left-hand turns onto Barlow St., but there is concern that these turn lanes 1) will increase cut-through traffic north through Oak Park neighborhood and 2) is part of a future Barlow St. extension, widening going south.  The turn lanes also negatively impact bike riders as it pushes motor vehicles towards the curb, while for the entire preceding block they were pushed toward the center with a fog line.
  

  See anything odd? (Click to enlarge)

• Pedestrian Signs: Signage is not the most affective means to communicate intent, however, when it’s all you can get, it’s all you can get. The issue is that in two places the placement of the pedestrian signs are behind trees.
• Pedestrian Activated Light: The Rose St. and 8th Street cross walk is marked with a thicker, slightly textured marking; that’s nice. However, requiring pedestrian traffic going North-South to push a button to get a green light reflects the prioritization of motor vehicles. Peds going East-West are not required to push a button; cars are never asked to push a button.  An activated signal for pedestrians helps reduce the time sequence, but it should also be synced with the traffic light to turn green with the signal.
• Sharrows: These shared road markings are yet to be approved by the state guidelines, so although proposed as an alternative, they never really had a chance with state money being spent. I do look forward to the future use of sharrows though. They are designed to communicate placement for bike riders while at the same time clarifying to motorists that cyclists do indeed have a right to the entire lane. There will be a future post this week about sharrows and where they might be used in Traverse City.

Sharrows may be used to encourage bike riders to use the lane. It has shown that proper use increases the chance that motorists are patient behind bike riders and when passing leave a safe distance.

The Indifferent:

• Share the Road signs and Bicycle Crossing signs: Signage is an afterthought that has limited actual impact. It may however serve to invite more riders to actually bike this stretch, which will ultimately improve conditions. At the same time, there are mix reviews out there on what “Share the Road” actually means. A cyclists has the right to the entire lane, so a more apt sign might just say “Bikes using the Road” or “Bikes Belong”. Or, in the future we might consider a sign more inline with the complete streets philosophy. A Coexist sign with a “Streets Are For Everyone” plaque developed in Chapel Hill.

For 1-day at least, the parking lane on the south side made for a sexy bike lane.Did you get a chance to ride them?

For more images along 8th Street, visit the MyWHaT flickr page, including a rough sketch of a bike box.

Have you been on the newly paved 8th Street? What did you experience?

Climate Action Planning Survey

Please take a moment to complete this Climate Action Survey.

Base numbers for CO2 emission sources

One of the other hats I wear in town is serving on the board of directors for SEEDS. SEEDS has a robust docket of activities that stretches from farming to engineering. We tie it all together with education, community resilience and energy & environmental analysis.

As part of the latter activity, SEEDS is working with area governmental bodies and agencies to develop a climate action plan for northern Michigan.The plan can’t be made in a vacuum and is seeking your input.

Please take a moment to complete the Climate Action Survey.

The data from the survey will be used to guide area utilities, elected officials and community members in setting future priorities. Thank you for your contribution.

If you’re interested in more information about the climate protection project, including responding to 12 proposed actions and your likely level of participation/acceptance, please email Mike at mike@ecoseeds.org. (A list of actions and links to their individual feedback forms is also included below.)

FYI, interesting article in the Record Eagle about Traverse City Light & Power’s return to the drawing board regarding local power generation. The setting of priorities, and finding acceptable paths to get to those solutions, are the critical decisions we face.

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Each action is also a link to a feedback form corresponding to that action.  Once you have submitted one form you will need to close the window return to the links and open the next form.  At the bottom under the title “Your Proposed Actions” there is a form for you to create your own proposed actions.

Residential/Commercial/Industrial Actions

• Leverage Existing Tax Incentives and Rebates to Encourage Energy Efficiency
• Encourage realtors to educate customers on benefits of energy performance
• Promote Commercial Facility Energy Efficiency Improvements
• Promote Energy Conservation Landscaping and Heat Island Reduction
• Create a Municipal Energy Office and Officer

Transportation & Land Use Actions

• Educate the Community on Low Carbon Transportation Options
• Promote Facilitate and Incentivize Active Transportation
• Implement Best Workplaces for Commuters program at Municipalities, School Districts, and Hospital as a model

Waste & Wastewater Actions

• Promote Water Conservation Measures
• Promote Recycling & Waste Reduction

Energy Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Actions

• Feed-In-Tariffs
• Promote Community Support of Renewable Energy
• Establish Local Renewable Energy Certificates

Agriculture & Forestry Actions

• Provide Education on the Impacts of Food Consumer Choices

Your Proposed Actions

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Below is my message sent to my state representative in support of House Bill 6151/6152, currently in the house transportation committee. 

You can learn more about the bills and the process at Michigan Complete Streets and a recent post by policy specialist Brian Beauchamp at the Michigan Land Use Institute.

Passing a complete streets policy will be a significant step to ensure that the public right-of-ways are designed with all users and uses in mind. We all walk. Many of us bike. More would do so if we built communities with complete streets.

Dear Rep. Wayne A. Schmidt,

Thank you for sponsoring house bills 6151 and 6152. I understand that it is set to be voted on in committee as soon as this week. Please be bold in your continued support and pass strong and effective complete streets legislation.

Over a year ago, dozens of your neighbors in Traverse City asked MDOT and the Traverse City commission for a ‘rethink’ of Division St. We rallied because as planned, a proposed construction project didn’t include better accessibility for pedestrians and bike commuters, nor did it have a context sensitive approach. It was more of the same.

In January this year, the city commission received over 200 emails in support of bike lanes and enhanced traffic calming on a 2-block long project of 8^th Street. A small section of road, but nonetheless symptomatic of poor transportation planning. Ultimately, we failed to implement any meaningful enhancements on 8th St. despite unprecedented public support, considerable energy between agencies and even involvement by you and senator Jason Allen. People in Traverse City have been asking for over 30 years for more non-motorized choices and inclusive infrastructure, and it is still a struggle.

Communities across Michigan are asking for an approach that not only moves cars and trucks, but that moves people while increasing access for all with the ultimate goal of building safe, comfortable and equitable neighborhoods. As transportation dollars are dwindling, it is crucial that projects are properly planned and widely accepted from their inception. A complete streets policy will be a critical tool to motivate reluctant transportation agencies. It may also serve these same agencies by garnering public support for increasing local road mileages.

Complete streets legislation is the best tool currently on the table to achieve a coherent statewide policy that will help create a balance of priorities and funding. It will help to avoid the incomplete road projects, like those above. When projects are delayed because they don’t meet community expectations it costs additional time, energy and money to complete. The state, as the major source of funds of local projects, needs to lead.

A complete streets bill is an excellent start. I agree with the Michigan Complete Streets Coalition’s assessment, building streets that better serve active users and public transportation will boost the economy, improve safety and promote public health.

States and cities of tomorrow will be measured on how well they provide transportation choices and how they help places thrive as communities. The sooner we move state and local government agencies in this direction, the sooner we will reap the benefits.

I appreciate your hard work and bold action on current complete streets legislation. Please, let me know how I can help you get it done.

Sincerely,

Gary L Howe, Traverse City, MI

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Call Rep. Schmidt’s office at (517) 373-1766 or email at WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov with your own comments on complete streets. You can also email the entire transportation committee via the committee’s website.

CLARIFICATION (06/14): Rep. Wayne Schmidt’s support of the complete streets concept is as a co-sponsor of House Bills 6151/6152. We’re asking for continued support and strong leadership to maintain effective integrity of the bills.

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ACTION: State Complete Streets bills need support

A coalition of policy wonks, organizations and citizens’ groups have been busy in Lansing at hearings with the house transportation committee. The effort is to pass two complete street bills (HB 6151 & HB 6152) out of committee next week. This is a crucial step to getting a complete street bill passed in the state senate and if it skips a beat here, new legislation won’t be an option for another year.

Traverse City citizens can play a significant role in this process. Our state rep. Wayne A. Schmidt sits on this committee and is a crucial vote. He’s been supportive of the concept in the past and we need to remind the representative to strongly support these bills as a more equitable transportation policy, reflective of our community values as expressed by the Grand Vision and as an economic stimulus. Planning for complete streets needs to be incorporated into the regular planning processes to avoid what seems to be a continuous battle between communities and their transportation agencies. When projects are delayed because they don’t meet community expectations it costs additional time, energy and money to complete.

The ‘extra‘ cost these bills would have on road projects are described as ‘marginal and potentially minimal‘ according to the House of Legislative Analysis Section. The claim by some that these bills will force transportation agencies to spend sums beyond their ability doesn’t add up. There are many reasons to believe that they will improve the efficeny of infrastructure costs and thus may reduce costs or at minimum raise revenue opportunities through grants and increased property values.  Complete streets makes economic sense.

Contact your representative today!

Call Rep. Schmidt’s office at (517) 373-1766 or email at WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov

• You can learn more about the bills and process at Michigan Complete Streets
• Traverse City Mayor Chris Bzdok sent a  letter of support for Complete Streets last week.

Let’s Save Michigan is one of the many organizations in support of these bills. In their words accompanying the video below: “Since our beginning, Let’s Save Michigan has advocated for redeveloping our cities as pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly urban centers. We believe that by carving out vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods where jobs, restaurants, stores, and other amenities are easily accessible, this state can begin to attract the diverse mix of businesses and residents necessary to move our economy forward.”