Some major fixes to our local roads are on the way thanks to a state general fund surplus found earlier this year. The projects includes $500,000 for a Division Street study, $1 million to replace the aging Front Street bridge in downtown Traverse City, and money for street repairs in the villages of Kingsley and Fife Lake.
Improving Division is just one piece of a broad set of strategies to reduce congestion in the Traverse City area. Others strategies include improving Grandview Parkway and S. Airport Roads, upgrading Keystone and Beitner Roads; and making it easier for people to get around without a car.
Wow! It’s going to be a cold, snowy winter here in northern Michigan. All you regular bike or walk commuters may want to thaw out on a nice, warm bus this winter. Brrrr…
In the Grand Traverse region, our long-distance commutes are having a big impact on our health. In fact, most Grand Traverse area workers spend about 46 minutes a day sitting alone in their cars traveling to and from work.
We also know we can’t build our way out of congestion. No city in the world has ever done this, and Traverse City will not be the first. But what we can do is this: Manage regional traffic and reduce in-town, peak-hour commuter traffic. We’ll explore these proposals in detail in an upcoming blog post series titled Five Ways to Beat Traffic in TC.
Transportation costs in the Grand Traverse region are sky-high. In fact, the average family spends about $15,000 a year on transportation alone, according to the Center for Neighborhood Technology.