Talking Michigan Transportation

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Susan Howard, director of policy and government relations for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Picking up on last week’s conversation with Richard Czuba, a veteran Michigan pollster and founder of the Glengariff Group, Howard talks about results from a recent Glengariff poll that asked Michigan voters for their perceptions of road conditions and repairs and how those results fit with what she’s seen at the national level. Howard says contrary to common belief, lawmakers have largely not paid a price for raising taxes or fees that fund transportation infrastructure when voters understand where the money is going and can see the results. Howard also addresses the health of the Highway Trust Fund and why the “donor-state” concept is no longer an issue in Michigan and other states (save, perhaps for Texas, where she says officials would make a different argument).  The federal government has used the General Fund to compensate for the diminished Highway Trust Fund for several years now, while the federal gas tax has not been raised since 1993. AASHTO officials have cited the cost of other items in 1993 versus now and how transportation infrastructure has suffered because of the lack of action.  Is the Highway Trust Fund model broken? Howard discuses the history of the fund going back to its origins in 1956 and some discussion about whether transportation should be funded like other federally supported discretionary programs. “The conventional wisdom and accepted course for the future is moving away from the gas tax as the method for funding transportation and to a mileage-based fee,” Howard says, which recalls previous podcast conversations about funding roads like public utilities.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Richard Czuba, a veteran Michigan pollster and founder of the Glengariff Group. A recent poll commissioned by his clients, The Detroit News and WDIV-TV, included some questions to measure Michigan voter perceptions of road conditions and repairs. Among issues discussed:What drives perceptions of road conditions. Is it mostly informed by how rough the pavement is on the street where a person lives or a local arterial or freeway used for commuting?Demographic breakdowns in the polling and differences in perception by gender and age group. Czuba’s research over the years and his conclusions about why people might be expressing more optimism about road work in Michigan.Perceptions of the Rebuilding Michigan bonding plan.As Czuba told the Detroit News when the poll was released: “It’s a perfect example of the voters aren’t stupid — they can actually make sense of what the issues are, who’s doing what.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in Detroit Thursday, Sept. 15, bearing gifts. The secretary joined Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, MDOT Director Paul Ajegba, and others to formally award MDOT a nearly $105 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant to convert the recessed I-375 freeway into an urban boulevard, allowing for the reconnection of neighborhoods with the city’s central business district as well as cultural and sports venues.This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features conversations with Zach Kolodin, director of the Michigan Infrastructure Office established by Gov. Whitmer earlier this year, and Jon Loree, MDOT’s I-375 project manager. First, Kolodin talks about his office’s role in overseeing all infrastructure, not just that related to transportation, and then shares his perspective on the I-375 announcement. Loree explains the benefits and opportunities the grant will provide for the project and talks about his ongoing work in public involvement with corridor neighbors, business owners and myriad interested parties.The project cost estimate is $270 million, with an additional $30 million anticipated for engineering costs. The INFRA grant will go toward construction and cover more than a third of that.As Gov. Whitmer observed in her remarks, competition for the INFRA grants was fierce, meaning Michigan’s selection for the fourth-highest amount of all the awards signals the value the project will provide to the community.With the grant, the project will be able to complete design and begin construction as soon as 2025, at least two years earlier than originally hoped. Work should be completed in 2028. Loree explains how design efforts are beginning and conversations and engagement continue on the future land use and community enhancements.The project is taking an innovative approach to use the value of the excess property from the freeway-to-boulevard conversion for community enhancements to acknowledge and address historic environmental justice effects from the original freeway construction.

This November marks the 65th anniversary of the opening of the Mackinac Bridge, the iconic structure linking Michigan’s two peninsulas. Each year, tens of thousands of people from across the state and other regions descend on the Straits of Mackinac for the experience of traversing the bridge. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, first, Patrick “Shorty” Gleason, a long-time member and chairman of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, shares his memories of many walks with friends and family. As an iron worker, his father, Mike Gleason, helped build the bridge, and Shorty talks about the legacy and his own experience as an iron worker. Later, Cole Cavalieri, assistant chief engineer at the Mackinac Bridge, talks about the ongoing work to maintain the bridge, projects in the works or planned for the future, and the pride he takes in watching people experience the bridge during the annual walk.  He also discusses recent challenges in maintaining the bridge, including the changing climate’s role in altering freeze-thaw cycles and causing ice to melt and fall on the driving lanes.

In 2006, Illinois became the first state to authorize the use of automated traffic enforcement programs to enforce speed limits in highway work zones, with implementation coming a few years later. The enabling legislation provided a legal framework for photo enforcement of speed limits in highway work zones. Last week, some Michigan lawmakers, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials, and leaders in labor organizations and the road building industry witnessed demonstrations on Michigan freeways of how the technology works. On this edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, first, a conversation with Juan Pava, Safety Programs Unit chief, Bureau of Safety Programs and Engineering at the Illinois Department of Transportation, about how the enforcement has worked there. Later, Lance Binoniemi of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA), talks about why he and his members are advocating for House Bill 5750, and what he learned from the demonstrations. Some key themes: Both transportation professionals and researchers generally agree that active enforcement is the most effective way to reduce speeding in work zones. However, speed enforcement in work zones is not always as simple as posting police in the work zone. Oftentimes work zones are not conducive to active enforcement by officers. For example, the work zone layout may limit both the number of safe locations where officers can position their vehicles and the number of pull-off areas where violators can be stopped.Active enforcement may also mean that officers will need to leave the work zone to cite a vehicle (which decreases enforcement visibility) or step out of their vehicles in the work zone (which opens them up to the risk of being struck by a passing vehicle).Alternatively, photo speed enforcement systems provide active enforcement while remaining stationary, and they can consistently cite more drivers, which can increase compliance with posted speed limits. Another benefit of using fixed camera systems is that they don’t require officers to risk injury or death by exposing themselves to vehicles moving at high speeds through the work zone. Studies of these systems in general have shown that their use could result in a reduction in injury crashes of as much as 20 to 25 percent.

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the City of Detroit would receive $25 million in a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity RAISE grant toward a major project to modernize US-12 (Michigan Avenue) in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. On a new edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist talks about what this means to him as a neighbor of the corridor. Per the grant application:MDOT and the city are collaborating on a project to rebuild a portion of Michigan Avenue to support a safe, innovative, and multimodal travel corridor. The project will re-apportion space in the right of way to accommodate several new and improved multimodal facilities, including:Expanded sidewalks and pedestrian amenities like seating, lighting, and street trees.Raised bike lanes at sidewalk level for areas with existing lanes, new dedicated and buffered bike lanes in downtown, and bike racks.Two dedicated center-running lanes for transit vehicles and for connected and autonomous vehicles. Transit vehicles will have signal priority to limit waiting time.Improved amenities, like concrete transit islands and new shelters.Improved markings and islands for additional/enhanced midblock pedestrian crossings.Two new traffic signals for intersections. Gilchrist talks about how these added benefits will transform the neighborhood and how the project spells good things to come for Corktown, a diverse neighborhood with a rich history.Podcast photo: Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. Photo courtesy of Lt. Gov. Gilchrist's Office.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with two people working on initiatives to protect those who build our state’s roads and bridges.Michigan House Bill 5750 would allow the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Michigan State Police (MSP) to set up automated speed enforcement systems in segments of state roads where work is being performed. First, John Osika, a veteran of Operating Engineers 324, representing heavy equipment operators, talks about the need for this legislation and other measures to protect workers. He recently penned an op-ed for Bridge Magazine laying out the reasons he and his colleagues support HB 5750.He also discusses close calls he observed first-hand while working on projects.Later, Lindsey Renner, MDOT construction operations engineer who is transitioning from her role as work zone manager, talks about the potential benefits of automated speed enforcement. These benefits have been measured in other states, including Maryland where a 2016 report documented a 10 percent reduction in speeds in Montgomery County.The House Fiscal Agency analysis says the bill would limit use of automated speed enforcement system to streets and highways under MDOT jurisdiction (state trunkline highways) and only in work zones when workers are present. The bill would have no impact on local road agencies.The bill earmarks civil fine revenue from violations of section 627c first to MDOT, by implication for the cost of installing and using automated speed enforcement systems. The bill directs MDOT to deposit civil fine revenue from violations of section 627c in excess of the costs of installing and using automated speed enforcement systems into the Work Zone Safety Fund, established in the bill as a restricted fund for the purpose of improving work zone safety. 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden in late 2021, among many things, established a National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (“NEVI Formula”) to provide funding to states to strategically deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access, and reliability.In order to access those federal funds, in Michigan’s case, $110 million, states are required to submit a plan to the federal government. MDOT submitted the plan on Thursday, July 28, but the development involved several state agencies and other partners. This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features a conversation with two of the people who worked on the plan: —   Niles Annelin is a policy section manager at MDOT and spearheaded the department’s efforts on the plan.—   And Judd Herzer, director of strategic policy at the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity (LEO) and the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification.Among the most vital themes emphasized in the plan is equity. Annelin talks about the extensive efforts the team took to ensure to maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities. Herzer explains how a work force development initiative serves that goal. Specifically, the plan says the state will seek to “maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities, as well as rural and underserved communities, in alignment with the Justice40 Initiative” and will “foster a diverse pipeline of workers in EV-related careers” and “equity-driven workforce training.” Other highlights from the Michigan NEVI Plan include:A strategic vision for how Michigan will use its $110M NEVI funds to “develop a safe, equitable, reliable, convenient, and interconnected transportation electrification network that enables the efficient movement of people, improves quality of life, spurs economic growth, protects Michigan’s environment, and facilitates data collection.”Strategic goals to “reduce GHG emissions economy-wide by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, en route to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050; and build the safe, convenient, affordable, reliable, and equitable infrastructure necessary to support two million EVs on Michigan roads by 2030.” A goal which supports the governor’s MI Healthy Climate PlanThat the Plan was developed with the input of over 200 stakeholder entities, 10 state agencies, and the general public. That the State will utilize its existing programmatic infrastructure through Charge Up Michigan (EGLE) to administer NEVI funds for Alternative Fuel Corridor buildout of a safe, reliable, accessible, and commercially viable charging network. 

In the wake of some troubling incidents on the Mackinac Bridge (involving people climbing a tower or otherwise accessing the bridge to take photos and another involving a bomb threat that closed the bridge on a busy weekend and disrupted travel for hours), the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill, 99 to 6, classifying the Mackinac Bridge and other vital structures as "key facilities." The designation means trespassing on the structures is a felony offense.This week on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, first, a conversation with the chief sponsor of House Bill 5315, State Rep. John Damoose. Later, Patrick "Shorty" Gleason, chairman of the Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA), explains why the MBA took the rare step of adopting a resolution in support of the legislation.HB 5315 would add the Mackinac Bridge to the list of key facilities, as well as any movable bridge in the state: the Zilwaukee Bridge, the Rouge River Bridge, the MacArthur Bridge, and all international crossings, including the Ambassador Bridge, the Blue Water Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and the International Bridge.Gleason also talks about a separate motion adopted by the Authority in opposition to Senate bills 1014 and 1078 concerning the transport of farm equipment across the bridge on I-75. The motion reads:"I move that the Board agree that the MBA's Bridge Director and this Board's Special Committee acted in good faith by thoroughly evaluating whether the proposed bills regarding farm implements could be modified to become bills that this Board could support. In the end, these individuals determined that the proposed bills and variations of them, if signed into law, would compromise the structural integrity and operations of the Mackinac Bridge and the safety of motorists who travel on the Bridge. They accordingly recommend, for these reasons, that the Board oppose the proposed bills or variations of them. I so move for the Board's agreement and support."

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Brian Travis, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) project manager on the I-96 Flex Route in western Oakland County. The $269 million project, allowing for the use of shoulders as travel lanes during peak travel times, is MDOT’s second use of the traffic innovation. In 2016 and 2017, contractors built the first phase of a Flex Route, a $125 million investment on US-23 north of Ann Arbor. A project is in design now for a second phase, at an estimated cost of $146 million, to extend the Flex Route from north of 8 Mile Road to I-96. Travis says the Oakland County project is on schedule and talks about the three-year timeline. He also touts the safety and efficiency benefits the added capacity during peak travel hours will provide.  Funding for this project is made possible by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Rebuilding Michigan program to rebuild the state highways and bridges that are critical to the state's economy and carry the most traffic. The investment strategy is aimed at fixes that result in longer useful lives and improves the condition of the state's infrastructure.