Hello,
Thank you all who attended the city commission meeting last week. There was a lot of positive energy that did not go unnoticed. I am sure the process will be changing at the city, and we shouldn’t be surprised again with a tunnel vision street design.
However, positive changes to 8th Street still hang in the balance. As you may know, there has been positive progress in that Mayor Bzdok and City Manager Bifoss will be meeting with MDOT Director Steudle and our local Senator Allen and Representative Schmidt next Thursday, 2/25, in Lansing. TART has put out an e-mail to our e-mail list asking people to contact our representatives to tell them how important it is that we build this project right the first time. I believe these contacts are critical, and this is another plea to you good folks on the Complete Streets list. A few talking points and contact info regarding 8th Street follow below:
- Many of us in Traverse City are hoping the 8th Street reconstruction project slated for this spring can be re-designed to more closely meet the City Master Plan and the guiding principals of the Grand Vision. The GV principals include “expand transportation infrastructure serving pedestrians and bicyclists.” The current city design does not meet this goal.
- To have a chance to implement the Grand Vision, right in the middle of Traverse City, right out of the gate, will really give the Grand Vision some traction.
- Federally mandated public hearings on 8th Street were held in January and April 2009 at the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. There were no public at the meeting, and no public comment received.
- People care about this issue, if they know the details. Nearly 300 letters and e-mails were received by the Traverse City commission before last weeks study session on 8th Street, and over 100 people attended the meeting. There was almost unanimous support for a Complete Street approach to the design.
- We are all concerned with the inflexibility expressed in MDOT’s February 8, 2010 letter. We’re hoping there is room to encourage flexibility for making a design change that could tweak the design to add traffic calming, bike lanes and better pedestrian crossings – make it a Complete Street.
- The street will be completely torn up, and new curbs will be poured. These curbs will be there for 30 to 50 years. We have one chance to build this street correctly.
- Let’s still build it this spring, with the contractor already under contract, just tweak the design.
- MDOT has been a financial supporter of the Grand Vision, and MDOT staff from Traverse City, Gaylord and Lansing have spent 100’s of hours on the study.
- Please work with MDOT and FHWA to help our community work towards implementing the Grand Vision when 8th Street gets reconstructed this spring. We are optimistic that we can all work together towards our common goals.
The meeting between the city, MDOT and our representatives is next Thursday, 2/25. Please send letters, call, or send an e-mail to:
Michigan Representative Wayne Schmidt <mailto:WayneSchmidt@house.mi.gov>
S-1388 House Office Building
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48933
Phone: (517) 373-1766
Toll Free: (800) REP-1046
Michigan Senator Jason Allen <mailto:senjallen@senate.michigan.gov>
Post Office Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Office Phone: (517) 373-2413
Office Location: 820 Farnum Building
US Senator Carl Levin <http://levin.senate.gov/contact/>
269 Russell Office Building
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510-2202
Phone (202) 224-6221
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