Citizens Plan for a Brighter Future
Momentum Builds for
Smarter Ideas than the Traverse City Bypass
By Kelly Thayer, Michigan Land Use Institute
Here's some great news for Earth Day 2000. The Grand Traverse Region is poised to see its quality of life enhanced in coming years. That's right, positive news from the environmental front! Recent events surrounding the Traverse City Bypass proposal suggest that better ideas will prevail. Here are a few reasons for hope:• People Power -- Hundreds of citizens developed, and a growing number of people support, the Smart Roads alternative that calls for a parkway, instead of a beltway, to ease congestion. A positive sign is that young adults are becoming more active in the campaign, choosing to design their own future.
• Citizen Victories -- Residents in nearby communities are fighting for livable communities and winning. The most recent victory came in late March, when the federal government rejected the state's plan to build a four-lane $1.5 billion freeway between Alpena and Standish, along Lake Huron. The government directed the state Department of Transportation to consider modernizing the existing rural, two-lane U.S. 23. This follows the state's withdrawal in January of its plan to transform rural U.S. 131 into a new four-lane freeway north of Manton.
• Federal Oversight -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal offices are monitoring the Traverse City Bypass study. In the fall of 1999, the EPA intervened and called for better work to be done by the Grand Traverse County Road Commission in developing alternatives. The EPA said the Smart Roads plan deserved more thorough consideration.
The Smart Roads Approach
If you haven't heard, Smart Roads: Grand Traverse Region proposes building a divided boulevard along Beitner and Keystone roads, with bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths. The parkway would begin at Chum's Corners and connect to Hammond Road, providing east-west traffic with a means of passing through the region. On its west side, the corridor would be protected from sprawl by county park land. On the east side, Garfield Township would need to listen to the public and enact zoning to preserve the landscape. The state and federal transportation departments have money for this type of protection. Smart Roads is a comprehensive plan that also advocates improving public transit, upgrading South Airport Road, and directing regional growth to already developed areas.
Ideas such as Smart Roads are succeeding in Michigan because they conserve taxpayer money and the countryside, while enhancing everyday life. That's a formula that people can, and want, to live with. All across Michigan, people have taken the lead and are speaking up for protecting and improving their communities. And there are signs, on this 30th anniversary of Earth Day, that officials at all levels of government are sensing the rebellion.
To learn more about Smart Roads: Grand Traverse Region, contact Kelly Thayer at the Institute. E-mail: <kelly@mlui.org>; telephone, 231-882-4723; mail, 845 Michigan Ave., P.O. Box 228, Benzonia, MI 49635; or visit the Institute web site at <www.mlui.org>.