The Grand Traverse County Road Commission (GTCRC) will vote on moving forward with the next phase of the East-West Corridor Study at the board's 7pm virtual meeting tonight (Thursday) – a move that would more closely analyze options and impacts related to building a cross-town bypass and evaluate the region’s traffic needs through 2045. The board will also vote on taking over a 2.8 mile stretch of M-137 in Interlochen from the Michigan Department of Transportation, with future plans to resurface the corridor.

The first phase of the East-West Corridor Study, completed in 2019, focused on short- and medium-term solutions to improving east-west traffic flow in the region, according to GTCRC Manager Brad Kluczynski. Several of those solutions are already being pursued or implemented, including traffic signal optimization, lane reconfigurations, and most notably the construction of new roundabouts in key corridors. GTCRC has six roundabouts planned to be built starting in 2021, with the first (and least expensive) slated for the intersection of Hammond and Four Mile roads. Board members tonight will discuss plans to buy property near the intersection of Cass and Keystone roads in preparation for a future roundabout at that site.

Kluczynski says the next step is planning for the long term. GTCRC board members will consider approving a $1.1 million contract with consulting firms OHM Advisors, WSP Michigan, and GEI Consultants to complete a planning and environmental linkages (PEL) study over the next year-plus focused specifically on traffic needs through 2045 and large-scale projects for alleviating cross-town traffic, such as a bypass. Networks Northwest is proposed to be hired at an additional rate of roughly $11,000 to facilitate “robust public outreach” and gather community input similar to open houses held in phase one. Kluczynski says analyzing long-term options is the next necessary step in planning and that the study will be paid for with Act 51 funds, not local millage funds.

“If we are talking about building a bridge crossing over the Boardman River, you’ve got ten years before you ever put a shovel in the ground,” he says. “You have to look at the available routes, the environmental impacts, and how those impacts can be mitigated somewhere else. We’d have to look at the traffic flow on US-31, the potential launch points from Keystone. It’s several years of studies and land acquisitions before you can get approval from the feds to start getting funding and designs ready. This would be a very large federally and state-supported project.”

Kluczynski says some residents will likely accuse GTCRC of “just doing studies to do studies,” but emphasizes the next phase of planning is federally mandated if the region ever wants to build a bypass. “Unfortunately, this is the world we live in with federal requirements,” he says. “We can't do it without these series of studies. There's no way the feds would allow us to build a bridge or anything else without doing these studies in this order.” Kluczynski says that GTCRC will not advocate for one specific outcome from the study, leaving consultants to guide the process. “We’re not going to take a position or suggest a solution,” he says. “We’ll let the contractors who have experience dealing with this go through it and look strictly at what the necessary (solution) is, not necessarily what the preference is.”

OHM also stressed in its proposal that major hurdles still need to be cleared to truly understand the feasibility of building a bypass or other river crossing – or considering an alternative project like redesigning South Airport Road. “The 2019 study established a good foundation…but the magnitude of the data collection, analysis, and the challenges associated with achieving consensus or support for a build alternative are still significant,” the firm wrote. OHM also cautioned that long-term design options will likely come with high environmental and legal stakes; a past proposed Hartman-Hammond bypass faced fierce opposition from a coalition of community organizers and environmental groups, ultimately tanking that project. “It is also important to recognize the selection of a build alternative other than South Airport Road will likely result in a legal challenge based on past controversy,” OHM wrote.

GTCRC board members will also vote tonight on taking over 2.8 miles of M-137 in Interlochen – stretching from the US-31 intersection south to Vagabond Lane – from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). GTCRC would receive a one-time payment of $760,084 from MDOT for accepting the transfer, funds that must be used to pay for a planned milling and resurfacing project in the corridor. GTCRC would additionally receive an estimated $80,740 annually in road maintenance and Act 51 funds for taking over the stretch of road. Kluczynski says having local control over the road will allow GTCRC to work with Green Lake Township and Interlochen Center for the Arts on creating safer student crossings on the roadway. “It would be very, very difficult to deal with the state of Michigan on (the crossings),” says Kluczynski. “We’re right here, and we can work with them and be on site when the design is being laid out.”

Meanwhile, another planned transfer of roadway from MDOT to GTCRC is still being finalized. MDOT is seeking to turn over 17.3 miles of M-37 on Old Mission Peninsula to GTCRC and another .74 miles to the City of Traverse City. The move has been approved by Traverse City commissioners but is strenuously opposed by Peninsula Township officials, who worry the corridor won’t receive adequate attention when it ceases becoming a state trunkline. The transfer will also strip M-37 of its Pure Michigan Byway designation, which can only be awarded to state roads. MDOT announced this week it is holding a required public hearing regarding the planned removal of the Pure Michigan Byway designation, along with offering a 30-day public comment period. The public hearing is scheduled for May 21 from 5pm to 7pm at MDOT’s Traverse City center. More information on the hearing (including virtual participation instructions) and details on providing public comment on the proposal are available here.