Michigan Notes

[JREwing78]

US-2 runs right along a cliff edge along this stretch; with the rising water levels and such, relocating the highway is a prudent move. One could make an argument that the entire section between Epoufette and Brevort should be relocated farther away from shore, but that would also require a new Cut River Bridge. MDOT just sunk a bunch of money into fixing the bridge, so I don't expect that to happen anytime soon.

[bulldog1979]

MDOT is taking public comment next month on transferring M-37 on the Old Mission Peninsula to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. Such a transfer would mean the removal of M-37 as a Pure Michigan Byway because county roads are ineligible for inclusion in the program, and the department cannot decommission that byway designation without a 30-day public comment period. The GTRC and City of Traverse City have supported the transfer, but Peninsula Township has opposed it.

[ftballfan]

MDOT is taking public comment next month on transferring M-37 on the Old Mission Peninsula to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. Such a transfer would mean the removal of M-37 as a Pure Michigan Byway because county roads are ineligible for inclusion in the program, and the department cannot decommission that byway designation without a 30-day public comment period. The GTRC and City of Traverse City have supported the transfer, but Peninsula Township has opposed it.

If MDOT were to transfer M-37 on the Old Mission Peninsula to Grand Traverse County, it would likely lead to the removal of one of very few three-way concurrencies in Michigan (US-31/M-37/M-72 run concurrent along West Grand Traverse Bay for two miles)

[bulldog1979]

MDOT is taking public comment next month on transferring M-37 on the Old Mission Peninsula to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission. Such a transfer would mean the removal of M-37 as a Pure Michigan Byway because county roads are ineligible for inclusion in the program, and the department cannot decommission that byway designation without a 30-day public comment period. The GTRC and City of Traverse City have supported the transfer, but Peninsula Township has opposed it.

If MDOT were to transfer M-37 on the Old Mission Peninsula to Grand Traverse County, it would likely lead to the removal of one of very few three-way concurrencies in Michigan (US-31/M-37/M-72 run concurrent along West Grand Traverse Bay for two miles)

MDOT put together a memo in October 1982 about eliminating concurrencies to "reduce as much of this unnecessary routing as possible in an attempt to avoid driver confusion and save funds". At the time, the state had nine triples. Of those, four were subsequently removed:

• BS I-96/Bus. US 31/M-46 in Muskegon in 1984
• I-75/US 10/US 23 between Bay City and Grand Blanc in 1986
• I-96/I-69/US 27 near Lansing in 2001
• BL I-94/Bus. US 131/M-43 in Kalamazoo in 2019

BL I-94/M-37/M-96 in Battle Creek was later added to the list in 1998. That leaves:

• US 2/US 141/M-95 at Iron Mountain
• US 2/US 41/M-35 between Escanaba and Gladstone
  
• US 31/M-37/M-72 in Traverse City
• US 131/M-66/M-72 in Kalkaska
• BL I-94/M-37/M-96 in Battle Creek
• BL I-94/Bus. 127/M-50 in Jackson

[GaryV]

Interesting memo.  They got rid of some of the doubles* as well.  Although I'm not sure how they wanted to remove all of them, unless you go to hidden concurrencies on the more major route like in some other states.  For example, M-55 is on the list with 3 dups plus a BR dup.  Are you going to divide M-55 up into 4 separate sections just to eliminate the overlaps?

* - one glaring double that is still there - I-96 and I-275

[ftballfan]

Interesting memo.  They got rid of some of the doubles* as well.  Although I'm not sure how they wanted to remove all of them, unless you go to hidden concurrencies on the more major route like in some other states.  For example, M-55 is on the list with 3 dups plus a BR dup.  Are you going to divide M-55 up into 4 separate sections just to eliminate the overlaps?

* - one glaring double that is still there - I-96 and I-275

In Traverse City, M-22 still has a useless concurrency with M-72 just for it to end at US-31

[bulldog1979]

Interesting memo.  They got rid of some of the doubles* as well.  Although I'm not sure how they wanted to remove all of them, unless you go to hidden concurrencies on the more major route like in some other states.  For example, M-55 is on the list with 3 dups plus a BR dup.  Are you going to divide M-55 up into 4 separate sections just to eliminate the overlaps?

* - one glaring double that is still there - I-96 and I-275

The followup memo the next year details some of the plans that were proposed internally in the department. Some came to pass, like removing US 33 and creating M-63, but not others like truncating M-54.

[ftballfan]

Interesting memo.  They got rid of some of the doubles* as well.  Although I'm not sure how they wanted to remove all of them, unless you go to hidden concurrencies on the more major route like in some other states.  For example, M-55 is on the list with 3 dups plus a BR dup.  Are you going to divide M-55 up into 4 separate sections just to eliminate the overlaps?

* - one glaring double that is still there - I-96 and I-275

The followup memo the next year details some of the plans that were proposed internally in the department. Some came to pass, like removing US 33 and creating M-63, but not others like truncating M-54.

Kind of interesting that they had internal plans for eliminating US-10 completely in MI at one point (with M-10 (or an extended M-25) taking the Ludington-Bay City segment and M-4 taking the Lodge Freeway segment). If that had come to fruition, it's likely M-10 or M-25 would have ended at US-31 in Scottville, with M-116 being extended from downtown Ludington to meet US-31

[JREwing78]

I notice they had plans to split M-28 into two segments; I'm glad that did not come to pass. M-28 is a signature E-W corridor through the Upper Peninsula. Some would say it should be designated as a US highway. Having a single route number connecting Ironwood and Sault Ste. Marie makes complete sense.

It's probably for that reason that US-41 meanders through the U.P. to connect Houghton, Marquette, Escanaba, and Menominee instead of following the logical path south along the current US-141 through Iron Mountain.

If MDOT seriously wanted to minimize concurrences in the U.P., here's what they should do:
- reroute US-41 along the current US-141 corridor south to Abrams
- designate the existing US-41 as US-241
- route the new US-241 designation along M-35 between Menominee and Escanaba
- terminate the new US-241 in downtown Marquette
- re-designate US-2 along the M-28 corridor
- re-designate existing US-2 as US-202 between Ironwood and Norway
- designate US-8 east of Iron Mountain along the existing US-2 corridor to St. Ignace

It will never happen because it would completely confuse everyone just to make a bunch of straighter lines on a map. But it *would* result in less concurrences.

[halork]

If MDOT seriously wanted to minimize concurrences in the U.P., here's what they should do:
- reroute US-41 along the current US-141 corridor south to Abrams
- designate the existing US-41 as US-241
- route the new US-241 designation along M-35 between Menominee and Escanaba
- terminate the new US-241 in downtown Marquette
- re-designate US-2 along the M-28 corridor
- re-designate existing US-2 as US-202 between Ironwood and Norway
- designate US-8 east of Iron Mountain along the existing US-2 corridor to St. Ignace

It will never happen because it would completely confuse everyone just to make a bunch of straighter lines on a map. But it *would* result in less concurrences.

I've gotta pitch in here, as this is similar to what I'd like to see:
- re-designate US-2 along M-28 to I-75. M-28 can continue to M-129
- re-designate US-2 as US-102 between Wakefield and the US-8 junction in Norway
- re-designate the existing US-2 between Norway and I-75 in St. Ignace as an extension of US-8
- reroute US-41 along the current US-141 north of Abrams.
- decommission US-141 south of Abrams
- re-designate US-41 north of Abrams as US-141
- terminate northbound US-141 at US-2 in Harvey.

M-35 already carries too much summer traffic along the lakeshore, and I'd hate to see that stretch widened or four-laned.  I'd re-designate M-35 as M-7 between Menominee and Escanaba, and decommission M-35 between Escanaba and Gladstone. Maybe prohibit through commercial traffic along the lake

Just a pipe-dream obviously.

[triplemultiplex]

MDOT put together a memo in October 1982 about eliminating concurrencies to "reduce as much of this unnecessary routing as possible in an attempt to avoid driver confusion and save funds". At the time, the state had nine triples.

Meanwhile across 'the pond', Wisconsin seems to have gone another way with concurrencies. 
The number of triples has probably doubled over here since 1982 and it may be even more than that for quads.
(That was a fun sentence.)

[wanderer2575]

The 2020 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  It's partly about concerns with maintaining social distancing, and partly that bridge toll revenues are obviously in significant decline and the funding isn't available to cover the $300,000 in expenses.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Mackinac_Bridge_annual_walk_2020_suspended_May_2020_690524_7.pdf

[ftballfan]

The 2020 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  It's partly about concerns with maintaining social distancing, and partly that bridge toll revenues are obviously in significant decline and the funding isn't available to cover the $300,000 in expenses.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Mackinac_Bridge_annual_walk_2020_suspended_May_2020_690524_7.pdf

I'm glad they admitted that the cancellation was partially budget-related.

[renegade]

The 2020 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  It's partly about concerns with maintaining social distancing, and partly that bridge toll revenues are obviously in significant decline and the funding isn't available to cover the $300,000 in expenses.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Mackinac_Bridge_annual_walk_2020_suspended_May_2020_690524_7.pdf

I'm glad they admitted that the cancellation was partially budget-related.

That's all right by me ... the Bridge Walk got screwed up a couple years ago courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security.  I'm willing to bet that this tradition will never return. 

[zzcarp]

The 2020 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  It's partly about concerns with maintaining social distancing, and partly that bridge toll revenues are obviously in significant decline and the funding isn't available to cover the $300,000 in expenses.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Mackinac_Bridge_annual_walk_2020_suspended_May_2020_690524_7.pdf

I'm glad they admitted that the cancellation was partially budget-related.

That's all right by me ... the Bridge Walk got screwed up a couple years ago courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security.  I'm willing to bet that this tradition will never return.

What did Homeland Security do to screw up the bridge walk?

[renegade]

The 2020 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk has been cancelled due to the pandemic.  It's partly about concerns with maintaining social distancing, and partly that bridge toll revenues are obviously in significant decline and the funding isn't available to cover the $300,000 in expenses.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/Mackinac_Bridge_annual_walk_2020_suspended_May_2020_690524_7.pdf

I'm glad they admitted that the cancellation was partially budget-related.

That's all right by me ... the Bridge Walk got screwed up a couple years ago courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security.  I'm willing to bet that this tradition will never return.

What did Homeland Security do to screw up the bridge walk?

No vehicles on the bridge during the walk.  You can walk in either direction now, but you'll need to arrange your own transportation back to where you started (no more school buses for the return trip) if you don't want to walk both ways, or if you start late, you won't make it across.  All these changes were made in the past couple years in the interest of security theater, under the orders advice of the Department of Homeland Security.

[Flint1979]

The Edenville Dam has failed and the area is being evacuated. US-10 is closed in both directions at Sanford Lake.

[Buck87]

I'm seeing reports that Smallwood dam also collapsed, and that Sanford dam's collapse is considered imminent

VS988

[Flint1979]

I'm seeing reports that Smallwood dam also collapsed, and that Stanford dam's collapse is considered imminent

VS988

Sanford Dam is about to collapse. This would probably flood all of Sanford.

I noticed that the Tittabawassee River in Saginaw was very high and flooding in several areas. I followed the river up to Sanford when I found the problem.

[Buck87]

Sanford dam has now failed as well. It and Edenville have been confirmed with pics or video.

So far I haven't seen such conformation on Smallwood, just reports on twitter.

VS988

[Flint1979]

Sanford dam has now failed as well. It and Edenville have been confirmed with pics or video.

So far I haven't seen such conformation on Smallwood, just reports on twitter.

VS988

Its completely flooded in Saginaw County. The bridges are all closed. Water is over the top of the State Street bridge.

[Flint1979]

I'm thinking Smallwood is ok right now

[Buck87]

It's being clarified this morning that while Sanford dam been breeched, it hasn't collapsed (but still could)

There's also a lot of people worrying about the big Dow chemical plant along the river in Midland.

VS988

[Flint1979]

It's being clarified this morning that while Sanford dam been breeched, it hasn't collapsed (but still could)

There's also a lot of people worrying about the big Dow chemical plant along the river in Midland.

VS988

Yes that would be a major concern. The river goes right through the middle of the plant. I forgot to look at the Saginaw River yesterday but that collects all the water from several rivers in the area and flows north into the Saginaw Bay and out into Lake Huron. Last I looked at the Tittabawassee Road bridge last night it was only a few feet from going over that bridge.

As far as I know in Saginaw County both State Street and S. Center Road are closed at the river but it seems like M-46, Tittabawassee and Freeland are all open.

If I get out to the Tittabawassee River today I'll take some pictures.

[Flint1979]

I was driving from Saginaw to Freeland northbound on M-47. All bridges across the river are closed. I got a view of the Tittabawassee Road bridge but didn't get a picture. The Saginaw County Sheriff's Department are out and have the bridges blocked. The water level on the Tittabawassee Road bridge is at the bottom of the bridge deck and I saw further west of the bridge the road is flooded. I'm in Freeland right now and all along M-47 there was massive flooding all the way to the road.

Imerman Park is closed and flooded. I'm going to try to get across the river and use River Road going south I might need some luck doing that.