‘Trains not lanes’: Residents urge MDOT to take expanding U.S. 23 off the table

[KelleyCook]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of flex lanes. I don't mind them for short term improvements, but they need to be tied to a longer full rebuild and a permanent expansion. Shoulders are important and taking them away during the busiest hours isn't very wise in my opinion.

I'm ranting now.

They had plenty of room to put permanent new lanes in north of M-14 to 8 mile, they didn't, because this sexy (and operationally expensive for all the electronics) flex lane idea.  It should be noted that they redid every intersection for this improvement, so it wasn't because so they could save money on new bridges.  And despite literally everyone driving on it wondering why the third lane isn't open all the time, they are now pushing the lanes out to I-96.

Much worse they are also now putting a flex lane on I-96 in Oakland County.  And yes they tore up the whole road to do this. The entire sometimes lane is just stupid pandering to the "induced demand" fallacy, IMO.

And after spending a year reconstruction all the bridges, for the next two years (!!), they will be "remilling and resurfacing" I-75 from Clarkston to Grand Blanc and yet not adding a fourth lane at all, despite the road being expanded to four lanes for much of Flint to Bay City.  This section is jammed every weekend in the summer.  Hell they aren't even fixing the dangerous left hand entrances at the two sides of Dixie Highway.

IMO, MDOT has a real problem lately about expanding roads to their needed capacity and instead spends time appeasing traffic-clueless Lansing folks.

[JREwing78]

I'm ranting now.

They had plenty of room to put permanent new lanes in north of M-14 to 8 mile, they didn't, because this sexy (and operationally expensive for all the electronics) flex lane idea.  It should be noted that they redid every intersection for this improvement, so it wasn't because so they could save money on new bridges.

Slow your roll there. MDOT is underfunded, not incompetent. That lack of funding has an impact in what they are able to accomplish.

MDOT may have laid fresh asphalt and made minor changes at several interchanges, but they most certainly did not replace every bridge or ground-up rebuild the roadbed. A ground-up rebuild would have included rebuilding every overpass wide enough to accommodate at least 5 full lanes of traffic and full 12' shoulders in each direction. It also would've meant a much more massive price tag than the cost of the "Flex Lane" project.

The whole point of the project was a cheap-and-easy widening that would take the edge off the congestion the area exhibits during busy periods. MDOT didn't have to build this "Flex Lane" project to full Interstate-standard because the "Flex Lanes" are only in operation for limited periods of time. That saved time and money they could use to fix other roads, funding which is in limited supply.

IMO, MDOT has a real problem lately about expanding roads to their needed capacity and instead spends time appeasing traffic-clueless Lansing folks.

How many people volunteered to pay an additional 40 cents per gallon in fuel taxes to fix the damn roads? Clearly, the answer is nobody, because the state ended up bonding $3.5 billion to fund the current Rebuilding Michigan program. The state just paid a bunch of residents to ask their opinion about alternative road funding models, because straight-up raising the gas tax is such a non-starter. Politicians would rather give their donors fellacio than deal with the prospect of having to explain to voters why the gas tax went up.

You want MDOT to fix the damn roads? Time to pony up!

[afguy]

Looks like MDOT won't be widening U.S. 23 after all. IMO, U.S. 23 should be six lanes between Toledo and Flint.

Highway expansion options cut from big U.S. 23 project in Ann Arbor

A major U.S. 23 overhaul project in the works for Ann Arbor's east side won't include a freeway expansion, an option previously under consideration, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The change comes after a wave of resistance to widening the highway between I-94 and M-14, which included formal opposition from Ann Arbor city leaders and a resident advocate group rallying under the moniker "trains not lanes." More than 1,300 people signed a petition raising concerns about increased carbon emissions with more highway lanes and asking for public transit alternatives. MDOT listened and is narrowing the scope of its U.S. 23 project, transportation planners said. The agency has eliminated three alternatives involving the widening of the highway from an ongoing environmental assessment assessment study.

In their stead, officials have put forward a new alternative, dubbed "safely connecting communities," that focuses on rebuilding highway pavement, replacing bridges and making safety improvements with increased options for pedestrians and cyclists.

"We really think that the change demonstrates what we've been saying throughout the environmental assessment process, which is our commitment to listen to the stakeholders and the public," said MDOT Senior University Region Planner Mike Davis Jr. "We're trying to focus on maintaining our existing infrastructure rather than expanding them."

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/05/highway-expansion-options-cut-from-big-us-23-project-in-ann-arbor.html

[michiganguy123]

Looks like MDOT won't be widening U.S. 23 after all. IMO, U.S. 23 should be six lanes between Toledo and Flint.

Highway expansion options cut from big U.S. 23 project in Ann Arbor

A major U.S. 23 overhaul project in the works for Ann Arbor's east side won't include a freeway expansion, an option previously under consideration, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The change comes after a wave of resistance to widening the highway between I-94 and M-14, which included formal opposition from Ann Arbor city leaders and a resident advocate group rallying under the moniker "trains not lanes." More than 1,300 people signed a petition raising concerns about increased carbon emissions with more highway lanes and asking for public transit alternatives. MDOT listened and is narrowing the scope of its U.S. 23 project, transportation planners said. The agency has eliminated three alternatives involving the widening of the highway from an ongoing environmental assessment assessment study.

In their stead, officials have put forward a new alternative, dubbed "safely connecting communities," that focuses on rebuilding highway pavement, replacing bridges and making safety improvements with increased options for pedestrians and cyclists.

"We really think that the change demonstrates what we've been saying throughout the environmental assessment process, which is our commitment to listen to the stakeholders and the public," said MDOT Senior University Region Planner Mike Davis Jr. "We're trying to focus on maintaining our existing infrastructure rather than expanding them."

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/05/highway-expansion-options-cut-from-big-us-23-project-in-ann-arbor.html

MDOT will keep the highways 4 lanes even if they get close to 100K vehicles, meanwhile they widen I-75 to 8 lanes with less than 60,000 AADT??

[Great Lakes Roads]

Looks like MDOT won't be widening U.S. 23 after all. IMO, U.S. 23 should be six lanes between Toledo and Flint.

Highway expansion options cut from big U.S. 23 project in Ann Arbor

A major U.S. 23 overhaul project in the works for Ann Arbor's east side won't include a freeway expansion, an option previously under consideration, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The change comes after a wave of resistance to widening the highway between I-94 and M-14, which included formal opposition from Ann Arbor city leaders and a resident advocate group rallying under the moniker "trains not lanes." More than 1,300 people signed a petition raising concerns about increased carbon emissions with more highway lanes and asking for public transit alternatives. MDOT listened and is narrowing the scope of its U.S. 23 project, transportation planners said. The agency has eliminated three alternatives involving the widening of the highway from an ongoing environmental assessment assessment study.

In their stead, officials have put forward a new alternative, dubbed "safely connecting communities," that focuses on rebuilding highway pavement, replacing bridges and making safety improvements with increased options for pedestrians and cyclists.

"We really think that the change demonstrates what we've been saying throughout the environmental assessment process, which is our commitment to listen to the stakeholders and the public," said MDOT Senior University Region Planner Mike Davis Jr. "We're trying to focus on maintaining our existing infrastructure rather than expanding them."

https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/05/highway-expansion-options-cut-from-big-us-23-project-in-ann-arbor.html

MDOT will keep the highways 4 lanes even if they get close to 100K vehicles, meanwhile they widen I-75 to 8 lanes with less than 60,000 AADT??

That's like OregonDOT's way of thinking! 

[Henry]

Have fun sitting in endless traffic jams, Ann Arbor!

[LilianaUwU]

Can't wait for the same people to urge MDOT to expand US 23 in ten to twenty years, and to be met with refusal because isn't that what they wanted?

[jeffandnicole]

So the masses not wanting the highway expansion get their way...except they're not suggesting building a train line, so they're not getting their way.

Yay! Everyone loses!

[Max Rockatansky]

So the masses not wanting the highway expansion get their way...except they're not suggesting building a train line, so they're not getting their way.

Yay! Everyone loses!

That's the Michigan I remember.  Good to see it is still alive after all these years.

[Plutonic Panda]

Goddamnit

[vdeane]

Can't wait for the same people to urge MDOT to expand US 23 in ten to twenty years, and to be met with refusal because isn't that what they wanted?

It wouldn't be the first time a town came to regret making a DOT do less than the originally planned improvements.  They probably won't even admit that it's their fault it wasn't widened in the first place in that scenario.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who think they can just take the funding for the widening and put it to a train line, not understanding that government funding doesn't work that way.  There are different "colors of money", and money for one thing can't be spent on something completely different.  People tend to be more likely to think "the government gives money to MDOT to spend in my town" than "the government gives money to MDOT to maintain improve roadways that meet certain criteria anywhere in the state".