Traverse City By The Numbers

All eyes may be on the Grandview Parkway/East Front Street reconstruction project kicking off Sunday, but 2023 also represented a major year for infrastructure investment in Traverse City. City Manager Liz Vogel presented an overview to commissioners this week of an annual recap called "The Performance," which uses key metrics to evaluate how individual departments and the city overall are performing. The Ticker pulls highlights from the report to show how Traverse City performed “by the numbers” in 2023 – plus more work that’s on deck for 2024.

Infrastructure
The city received more than $7.6 million in grant funding in 2023, a significant portion of which went to infrastructure and equipment. That includes $1,685,479 for a solar and battery storage project at the wastewater treatment plant and $1.8 million for a new city fire ladder truck. Other key infrastructure projects in 2023 included:

> The completion of the South Union Street Bridge and North Cass Street Bridge, with the total for both projects coming in at approximately $4 million. Between 2021 and 2023, approximately $13.3 million was invested in bridge rehabilitation in Traverse City, including the South Cass Street Bridge, Eighth Street Bridge, Park Street Bridge, West Front Street Bridge (full reconstruction), South Union Street Bridge, and North Cass Street Bridge. Most of the funding came from the state’s Local Bridge Funding program.
> Over $10 million was invested in wastewater treatment plant upgrades and water, sewer, and collection system improvements. Water infrastructure investment has been identified as a “strategic priority” for the city, Vogel said this week. Through a state loan, the city also spent nearly $2.2 million on the Boardman River wall stabilization and sewer relocation projects in the 100 and 200 block alleys of Front Street.
> The intersection of Cass and Eighth streets was fully reconstructed last fall, including new concrete pavement and brick crosswalks. That project is part of a $2.57 million pavement preservation project for 2023-24. The intersection of Union and Eighth will be reconstructed this spring, while improvements to Maple Street, Twelfth Street, Eastern Avenue, and Railroad Avenue are also planned. The project will “also address sidewalk repairs at State Street's Lot G and pavement issues in Lot C” next to Traverse Connect, according to the report.
> The city broke ground on the $10 million rebuild of the Traverse City Senior Center. The new Senior Center will increase square footage from 5,780 to over 18,000, including exterior spaces like patios. The new building is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The city also received grant funding in 2023 to partner with the TC Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and TART Trails on a $1.2 million expansion of the downtown TART Trail, which is planned for this year.
> Other 2023 numbers for Traverse City: 1,720 catch basins cleaned, 40 catch basin castings removed and replaced, 95.28 sidewalk miles for snow removal, 16.26 trail miles for snow removal, 85.52 roadway miles for snow removal, 9,194 yards of leaves collected, 486.63 tons of asphalt purchased, 90 signs removed and replaced with high-intensity/prismatic signs, 81 yards of concrete purchased, 11.914 center lane miles of crack sealing, and 264.65 tons of gravel purchased.

Going Green
Green initiatives were another focus area for the city in 2023. The city received a $2,352,200 state grant – plus voter approval to use a $746,245 match from the city’s Brown Bridge Trust Fund – to purchase 528 acres to expand the Brown Bridge Quiet Area (BBQA). Work is underway now to update the management plan for the property. Other parks and green projects included:

> Renovations at Indian Woods Park and Boon Street Park, the expansion of the downtown volleyball courts, basketball court upgrades at Arbutus Court Park and F&M Park, and an Arts Commission mural project at Bryant Park. The Nordic course at Traverse City’s Hickory Hills Ski Area also became the first homologated cross-country course in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
> 1,600 seedlings, 300 perennial and native plantings, and 871 trees were planted in the city. Another 1,500 wildflower plugs, 1,300 seedlings, and 83 trees were planted at Brown Bridge Quiet Area, for a total of 1,800 perennial and native plantings and 3,854 trees and seedlings planted. The city also contributed $25,000 toward tree planting on the Kids Creek Enhancement Wetland and Streamside Restoration Project, located on city-owned property south of Silver Lake Road.
> The city expanded its fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles – including for Traverse City Light & Power, the streets and parks divisions, and the police department – and salvaged black locust trees from the Senior Center property that were removed for reconstruction for reuse into a nature playscape in Ashton Park in Slabtown. That park project is expected to begin this spring. Traverse City Light & Power also completed the M-72 solar project, including upgrading the overhead line along M-72 with larger wire to accommodate more renewable generation.
> Traverse City Light & Power adopted a new Climate Action Plan, while the city approved a building electrification policy that “encourages electric systems in new construction and major renovations, while also supporting the retrofitting of existing buildings to reduce reliance on fossil fuels,” according to the report. The city also approved a resolution towards decarbonization and climate resiliency, which among other goals calls for creatine a baseline carbon emissions inventory by 2025. Traverse City was awarded a $255,396 two-year USDA grant in 2023 to pilot a compost and food waste reduction project, with the city acquiring a 20-yard "in-vessel" composter that will enable the annual processing of nearly 150 tons of food waste. The program is planned to kick off this spring.

Housing & Public Safety
Of the city’s $23.7 million in expenditures for 2023-24, nearly 40 percent “supports public safety through police and fire,” Vogel noted. Voters in November approved a millage to support the expansion of the Traverse City Fire Department, which will become the city’s primary ambulance provider. The millage revenue will “support the proposed staffing model of nine additional personnel, one captain, the purchase of additional equipment, and two new ambulances,” according to the report. “TCFD will begin phasing in this project over the next 12-24 months.”

Housing and homelessness were another key priority area for the city in 2023. Here’s a snapshot on city efforts on both public safety and housing:

> The city chose a new police chief – Matt Richmond – in October and approved partnering with TCAPS to reinstate a school resource officer at TC Central. The Traverse City Fire Department logged over 7,110 training hours and 3,537 responses last year, which included (among others) 44 fire calls and 2,464 EMS responses. The TCPD’s Quick Response Team (QRT) – a new program launched in 2022 to respond to overdoses and connect people to treatment – had 118 active participants.
> Traverse City has an estimated rental housing gap of 1,010 units and a for-sale housing gap of 1,192 units. After extensive public debate, the city made several zoning changes in 2023 designed to encourage more housing density and diversity, including allowing additional dwelling types and modifying dimensional standards in the R-1a, R-1b and R-2 residential zoning districts. The city is looking at more potential zoning changes in 2024, including possible caps or limits on short-term rentals.
> Changes in legislation that give communities more flexibility to approve tax breaks for housing developments allowed the city to approve multiple payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements in 2023. Those agreements covered 381 housing units, including 35 permanent supportive housing units.

As mentioned above, many 2023 initiatives will continue or have impacts in 2024. In addition to the largest road project in modern Traverse City history with the Grandview Parkway/East Front Street reconstruction, other significant projects coming up include the finalization of the city’s new master plan and mobility action plan, as well as a city commission vote this spring on approving a new 30-year tax increment financing (TIF) plan.