As part of a master plan rewrite taking place this and next year, Garfield Township planning commissioners will discuss options for improving biking and walking conditions throughout the township at their 5:30pm meeting tonight (Wednesday). Michigan State University urban planning students analyzed Garfield Township demographics, feedback from residents, and current non-motorized conditions to identify three priority areas – Lafranier Road, South Airport Road between US-31 and Miller Creek Nature Reserve, and South Airport Road between Barlow Street and Park Drive – with a list of recommended short and long-term improvements to enhance mobility options.

Township Planning Director John Sych says MSU’s planning program offers “practicum” projects in which students assist communities with planning services and studies. “The township has been interested in trying to identify, or have a way to identify, some of its non-motorized priorities,” Sych explains. “We thought this would be a good partnership to update a non-motorized plan as part of our master plan update.” MSU students compared Garfield Township to five similar Michigan townships with non-motorized plans – including Dewitt, Delta, Kalamazoo, Ypsilanti, and Oshtemo – as well as examined U.S. Census and community survey information, existing infrastructure, and field observations of walking and biking conditions in Garfield Township to arrive at a series of recommended improvements.

The group found that Garfield Township can improve non-motorized mobility “by first building infrastructure and facilities along three highest priority areas,” according to the report. “These areas showed the most need for built infrastructure due to their high residential density with special groups, their proximity to clustered destinations of interest, and existing infrastructure. The priority areas are Lafranier Road, South Airport Road between US-31 and Miller Creek Nature Reserve, and South Airport Road between Barlow Street and Park Drive.”

According to the students, recommendations were based on potential improvements to “connectivity, safety, and ease of implementation.” The report adds: “Connectivity for all areas encouraged connected orphaned sidewalks and ADA-compliant multi-use trails and improved bus stops. Safety recommendations included repainting crosswalks, adding lighting, signage, and traffic calming.” The group added that “ease of implementation” for different options reflected the need to “coordinate with Grand Traverse County Road Commission and other stakeholders to secure available funding.”

South Airport Road between US-31 and Miller Creek Nature Reserve scored the lowest of the three corridors in terms of connectivity, safety, and ease of implementation, scoring just two of 22 points possible across those three categories. Lafranier Road performed only moderately better (four of 22 points), while South Airport Road between Barlow Street and Park Drive scored seven of 22 points. Students looked at numerous factors when scoring the corridors, such as continuous connections between non-motorized infrastructure; biking and walking connections to residential areas and attractions like employment centers, schools, and hospitals; safe barriers between traffic and cyclists/pedestrians; accessible options for children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities; and infrastructure like crosswalks and ADA-compliant paths.

On South Airport between US-31 and Miller Creek Nature Reserve, the group recommended low-cost/near-term improvements including installing signage and painted crosswalks along business entrances/exits, with a medium-cost approach including installing LED lighting for pedestrians and enhanced safety barriers. A longer-term upgrade would be installing an ADA-compliant path that connects the Grand Traverse Mall Trail with the Miller Creek Trail. Further down South Airport between Barlow and Park, the group recommended repainting crosswalks, adding lighting, installing signage, and filling in sidewalk gaps. Long-term, more costly solutions in that stretch included installing protected bus stops with benches and bike rakes and adding an ADA-compliant multi-use trail along the corridor.

On Lafranier Road, students also highlighted the need to install signage, repaint crosswalks, add lighting, and filling sidewalk gaps to connect the road’s north and south ends. The group also flagged adding traffic calming measures such as trees, shrubs, and greenery between sidewalks and the road, installing more multi-use trails or non-motorized infrastructure, and adding more bus stops, in addition to address flooding at LaFranier’s existing stop. The group emphasized the importance of Garfield Township having a non-motorized plan, noting that “Michigan townships with up-to-date non-motorized transportation plans are eligible for funding allocated for walking and biking facilities.” The students added that “access to sidewalks and trails provides important mobility options that can improve overall health and quality of life.”

Sych says the report provides a way for Garfield Township to “evaluate priorities” for walking and biking upgrades. “I think there’s been a lot of interest in doing non-motorized projects in the township, but how do we determine what’s most important?” he says. “Obviously, we have limited resources. We can’t provide trails and pathways everywhere, nor does everywhere make sense for trails and pathways. We want to know where the key places are. They did an inventory and provided a mechanism to help us formulate a more detailed approach.”

Sych says that while he believes Garfield Township has “done a pretty good job in the past” of offering non-motorized opportunities, “there’s always for improvement and continuing to look at the biggest impact (projects)” for township residents. Planning commissioners talking through the MSU report and potentially including some or all of its recommendations in the master plan update will be a “good first step” in ultimately strengthening walking and biking options across the township, Sych says.