Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) is planning to make multiple route upgrades and adjustments to help riders navigate traffic detours during the Grandview Parkway reconstruction, which is set to begin next month. BATA staff will appear at a noon study session today (Friday) of the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to discuss detour plans, as well the latest on continued discussions about a potential shuttle trolley/traffic circulator for downtown.

The target date to start the Grandview Parkway reconstruction is March 13, according to Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) North Region Communications Specialist James Lake. “As we get closer to that date, we’ll be watching the weather and seasonal weight restrictions to see if a slightly earlier start date might be possible, or whether the start date will need to be moved back,” he says. “We’ll know more as we get closer to March 1.”

The $24.7 million, 2.2-mile-long reconstruction project is split into two segments, with unique detours planned for each segment. Segment 1 will take place from March to July on East Front Street between Garfield Avenue and Grandview Parkway, as well as north from the Garfield/East Front intersection up to Peninsula Drive by Bryant Park. Segment 2 will take place from July to November on Grandview Parkway from East Front Street to Division Street (maps for each segment and detour routes are available here). BATA hopes to adjust its operations during the project not only to accommodate regular riders, but an anticipated bump in new riders who might prefer to leave their cars behind and let someone else do the driving through the construction.

“The main thing we want to do is keep people moving and help get them to and from downtown,” says BATA Director of Communications and Development Eric Lingaur. “It’s an alternative way to avoid the congestion and not have to fight the traffic.” The most impactful phase of construction is anticipated to be Segment 1, particularly toward the east side of town. Accordingly, BATA will split its popular free Bayline route – which runs seven days a week from Meijer in Traverse City to Woodland Creek in Acme – into two separate loops from March to July. Bayline West will run between Meijer and BATA’s Hall Street Transfer Station, while Bayline East will run from BATA’s Hall Street Transfer Station to Woodland Creek.

“The reason we did that is if things get bogged down in the construction, at least we can keep the Meijer and downtown buses moving,” explains Lingaur. The Bayline East buses will follow the designated detour route heading toward East Bay. Heading into downtown, the route incorporates an NMC/Dennos loop that then skirts around the south side of the Civic Center over to Garfield and then to State Street into downtown. A new temporary stop sign will be installed at State and Barlow.

Both Bayline bus routes will run every 20 minutes (construction depending). BATA has Park-n-Ride lots at both Meijer and Woodland Creek, meaning riders can leave their cars in those lots for free and take the bus into town. Lingaur says BATA is in talks with locations like NMC and the Civic Center about potentially adding more seasonal Park-n-Ride lots. Starting in May, BATA anticipates opening its new transfer station and Park-n-Ride lot on LaFranier Road, which will offer another 40-plus free daily parking spaces. The Acme Meijer is also a Park-n-Ride location; riders out in that area can leave their cars in the Meijer lot and take Village Loop Route 14 into town.

BATA is making other adjustments during construction. In addition to recently launched real-time bus tracking, BATA is increasing frequency on City Loop Route 2 (to provide more north-south connections between downtown and the LaFranier Park-n-Ride lot), on Village Loop Route 12 to Interlochen (with earlier and later runs for commuters), and on Village Loop Route 13 to Kingsley. That last route will also have Express Runs for Kingsley commuters. BATA is also increasing the frequency of buses looping downtown from Hall Street to Boardman. Those who want to leave their cars at the Hardy Parking Deck can hop on those buses at stops at State/Park and Front/Park.

Discussions about how best to get people into and out of downtown – and how to help them move around within downtown once they’re there – aren’t new, but the Grandview Parkway reconstruction project has brought them to the forefront. In addition to the detour plans, BATA and DDA members will revisit talks today about an idea to create a downtown shuttle or trolley system, sometimes called a circulator. The DDA board expressed support last summer for exploring options with BATA to help downtown visitors/employees get from parking decks – where the DDA is increasingly working to consolidate parking – to other downtown destinations quickly and dependably. That could look like a unique branded downtown trolley that operates year-round, or some other kind of partnership with BATA to provide shuttle services.

BATA has provided some high-level cost projections for a year-round trolley service, estimated at $1.47 million annually to operate. Such a service could run daily from 9am to 10pm on a five-minute frequency and serve Front Street, Pine Street, State Street, the Governmental Center, Eighth Street, both downtown parking decks, and a proposed third new mixed-used parking deck on State Street. The cost of vehicles to provide the service would be separate; if the DDA wanted trolleys specifically, that purchase cost is estimated at about $1.52 million, according to a memo from BATA Executive Director Kelly Dunham.

Other communities have struggled to make circulators successful, Dunham cautioned in her memo, noting that BATA’s transit master plan and the DDA’s own recent transportation demand management study both highlighted that fact. If the DDA and BATA were to move forward, a comprehensive community needs assessment and “assurance of a sustainable funding source” would be needed first, Dunham said. DDA CEO Jean Derenzy agrees, saying today’s meeting will serve as a check-in with the board to see if the project is still a priority. If so, the needs assessment would be the likely next step, she says. BATA has also suggested other options the two groups could explore, such as increasing the frequency of the Bayline and other routes, using trolleys as part of the Bayline to connect tourists with downtown, and increasing marketing for the free downtown employee commuter program Destination Downtown.