Roadkill will continue to be left along roadways in Grand Traverse County for the foreseeable future after the Grand Traverse County Road Commission announced it’s halting its practice of collecting carcasses, citing state policies that could put workers at risk of civil or criminal penalties for moving dead animals. Road commissioners discussed the situation at their most recent meeting, where they also agreed to ask Garfield Township to ban parking along Keystone Road and approved a construction contract to rebuild the South Airport Road and Silver Lake Road intersection this year.

Roadkill Policy
Due to “confusing and conflicting positions” taken by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), the Grand Traverse County Road Commission (GTCRC) says it will stop its long-running practice of collecting roadkill and disposing of it in remote areas.

The roadkill issue reared its head late last year, when the DNR told GTCRC to stop disposing of deer carcasses on state land. GTCRC Manager Brad Kluczynski told The Ticker that drivers weren’t placing roadkill on actual state property, just the public right-of-way along remote roads adjacent to state land. But the DNR said it would ticket drivers for littering/dumping if GTCRC continued the practice, Kluczynski said. Road commissions across Michigan have been picking up deer carcasses since the 1970s after the DNR stopped doing so, Kluczynski said, but are not mandated nor funded to do so.

GTCRC has since received additional input from EGLE stating that roadkill must be managed as “solid waste,” meaning it can only be disposed of in a licensed landfill, composted, or incinerated. Roadkill cannot be collected and transported to a location for burial or surface dumping, according to EGLE directives. GTCRC staff told road commissioners the rules mean that even if private property owners offered to let GTCRC dump deer carcasses on their land, workers can’t move roadkill or dispose of it except by the state-approved methods. Civil penalties for violating the rules can range from $10,000 to $25,000 per event, and workers could also face misdemeanor charges, staff said.

While staff and road commissioners doubted whether criminal charges or steep fees would actually be levied against workers for relocating roadkill, they also said they couldn’t risk putting employees in that position. “I don’t think anybody’s going to push it to that level, but in reality they could,” Kluczynski said. Road commissioners approved a new policy stating GTCRC will leave roadkill carcasses where they fall if possible. When carcasses pose a hazard to public travel or hinder GTCRC operations, they will “be moved outside of the traveled part of the highway or area of GTCRC operational activity at as close to a ninety-degree angle as possible.” Carcasses will not be placed near water sources, and in cases where roadkill hazard can’t be eliminated by following GTCRC’s new rules, the Road Commission “retains the ability to close the roadway to travel until the hazard no longer exists.”

While local and state officials are still in active discussions on finding a long-term solution – with elected representatives also involved – legislative action that could set a clear policy for roadkill disposal across the state could take until fall to move forward, Kluczynski said. In the meantime, road commissioners expressed frustration with the situation – Commissioner Alisa Korn called it “one of the most ridiculous uses of government time I can possibly imagine” – but noted that picking up roadkill is not a road commission duty, just a voluntary community service. The new GTCRC policy “protects the crews that are on the ground” until the debate can be resolved, Kluczynski said.

Keystone Road Parking
Road commissioners voted to ask Garfield Township to formally prohibit parking on Keystone Road from Hammond Road to Cass Road due to safety concerns near the Keystone Soccer Complex. Kluczynski noted GTCRC doesn’t have the authority to establish a permanent non-parking zone, but the township does. Kluczynski said he was particularly worried about parents not paying attention to the way children are exiting vehicles when parking along the road, with kids standing in Keystone Road during busy traffic with vehicles going 55 miles per hour. Both the Grand Traverse County Parks and Recreation Commission and TBAYS have also previously expressed safety concerns, staff and road commissioners said, but also don’t have the power to change parking rules along the corridor.

South Airport/Silver Lake Rebuild
Road commissioners voted unanimously to approve a $1,293,972 contract with Team Elmer’s for a rebuild of the South Airport Road and Silver Lake Road intersection. Work will include widening South Airport Road as it approaches Silver Lake to create dual left turn lanes onto Silver Lake, as well as replacing guardrail, installing slip lining in an existing culvert, and reconstructing the traffic signal to a box-span configuration. Work will start after the National Cherry Festival and be completed by the fall, according to staff. The intersection will remain open to traffic during construction, though significant traffic tapering and lane shifts are expected. While work will be impactful, Korn noted the changes are “much needed” and will offer a “significant improvement” to the intersection.