East-west transportation routes – or a lack thereof – remain a consistent challenge for the Grand Traverse region, a problem the Grand Traverse County Road Commission will attempt to address on two different fronts in 2018.

Road commissioners have budgeted $150,000 for phase one of an east-west study that will analyze a broad array of potential options for alleviating cross-town traffic, ranging from small-scale road improvements to major projects like a long-discussed bypass or bridge over the Boardman River. Consulting group OHM Advisors plans to use a process called a planning and environmental linkages (PEL) study to identify east-west traffic solutions, an approach that was also recently used by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to prioritize Division Street improvements.

In a recent meeting with road commissioners, OHM representatives alluded to numerous past studies and discussions that have attempted to find an east-west solution for the region – some of which resulted in significant community controversy, including debate over a proposed bypass connecting Hartman and Hammond roads. Matt Wendling, transportation practice leader for OHM Advisors, told the board his company would consider past studies as part of their project scope, but planned to bring a fresh perspective to traffic alternatives and cross-town solutions.

“Certainly acknowledging everything that’s been done to date, (there’s) a lot of valuable information we’ve got out there, a lot of great studies,” he said. “But what we want to do is a little different approach.”

The PEL process takes into consideration factors like environmental impacts early on, according to Wendling, avoiding conflicts that could eventually derail projects, as happened with the Hartman-Hammond bypass. The firm will also analyze potential unintended consequences of various scenarios, including impacts on nearby roads and residential streets. Megan Olds of Parallel Solutions, a Traverse City firm charged with coordinating public engagement for the study, told road commissioners her job was to establish trust among residents in the PEL process, foster a sense of community ownership, and arrive at a supported decision.

“There are a lot of people engaged in transportation in the community, and we want to make sure their voices are heard,” Olds said. “We want to make sure that it’s a transparent process…I don’t think we’re ever going to get everybody in the community to agree on every single solution or project. I do think it’s possible to create a process that engages everyone.”

Road commissioners and OHM Advisors representatives emphasized a bypass or bridge wasn’t a foregone conclusion as a recommended outcome of the study. “Whether you’re able to achieve that long-ranging goal, the ultimate build-out or not, due to funding constraints or environmental constraints…the real benefit to this process is you’re going to come up with what we consider operational and safety-type improvements,” said Wendling. Those could include smaller projects like signal optimization, pedestrian crossings, lane additions and other types of upgrades, he said.

“Everyone who’s driven on South Airport Road at 5pm knows there’s an issue,” Road Commissioner Andy Marek tells The Ticker. “What we don’t know is how best to resolve it. It could be as simple as timing lights or putting in a turn lane. There might not be a silver bullet like a bridge across the river. We do know that if we end up needing to do a bridge or bypass, it’s going to be 10 to 15 years before it’s done. If we’re going to (qualify for) federal grants, we need to have a timely study done that includes traffic studies and environmental assessments.”

Road commissioners are hoping the first phase of the east-west corridor study will be complete by the end of 2018, according to Marek. General fund – not millage – dollars will pay for the project.

Another project set to take place next year will also likely illustrate existing challenges in east-west traffic movement. The road commission is set to completely reconstruct South Airport Road from Veterans Drive to the US-31 intersection (pictured) in 2018. The multi-million dollar project will address deteriorating conditions in the corridor, exacerbated by uneven layers of asphalt where crews built on top of – instead of removed – old roadway. Road commission workers discovered the buried old road while taking core samples along South Airport in anticipation of the reconstruction project.

The project is slated to begin next summer, creating likely traffic delays in a heavily congested east-west stretch dotted with numerous retailers and restaurants, including the Grand Traverse Mall, Walmart and Buffalo Wild Wings. While road commissioners have acknowledged the job is slated for a challenging stretch, the planned repairs will address recurring potholes and other hazards posed by the road’s poor condition and are expected to last several decades once complete.

Road Commission Manager Jim Cook submitted a request last week to county commissioners to begin the bonding process for the $4 million-plus project, writing in a memo that “smaller additional projects or project enhancements (for South Airport Road) will be added to the bond project list should surplus funds be available upon completion of the project as bid.”