Talking Michigan Transportation

This week, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee began debating a $547 billion highway bill, which, among other things, resurrects an old practice: the use of member earmarks for projects. On this week's podcast, Susan Howard, program director for transportation finance of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, talks about the process, the pros and cons, and what else we can expect.In the second segment, Matt Chynoweth, chief bridge engineer at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), talks about the largest dollar amount targeted for Michigan, a $20 million earmark for the Miller Road/Rotunda Drive bridge in Dearborn. First, Howard talks about the highway reauthorization legislation, titled the INVEST in America Act, and the differences in today's earmarks versus those of the past, mostly provisions for transparency. There is a cap on the number of projects members can submit per fiscal year and they must provide evidence their communities support the earmarks they submit. Also, any member submitting a request must post it online at the same time they submit their proposal to the Appropriations Committee.Howard also talks about the status of separate negotiations for President Biden's American Jobs Plan and what happens now that talks broke off between the president and the Senate Republicans' top negotiator, West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. Talks have resumed with a bipartisan group of senators. Michigan projects Most Michigan Congressional representatives included some projects in the bill. In addition to the Miller Road/Rotunda Drive bridge submitted by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, requested $14.7 million to rebuild the US-131 interchange with US-131 Business Route in Kalamazoo, and U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, sought $10 million to rebuild M-46 and M-19 in Oscoda County. U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, included some local street projects for the city of Grand Rapids. MDOT's Chynoweth explains the bridge bundling concept and the work needed on the Miller Road/Rotunda Drive bridge. Because of the bridge's vital role supporting the Ford Rouge plant, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has highlighted the need for rebuilding it. The balance of the $60 million needed to replace the bridge would come from the governor's $300 million local bridge bundling proposal. Other components of the bill would support electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The bill also would authorize $750 million annually over four years for MDOT to award funding to remediate, retrofit or even remove transportation facilities to restore mobility or access within "disadvantaged and underserved communities." The Detroit News explains why I-375 in Detroit is such an example. Other references: https://transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/ANS%20to%20HR%203684.pdf  https://www.rollcall.com/2021/02/26/house-appropriators-to-cap-earmarks-at-1-percent-of-topline/ Episode photo: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tours the Miller Rd/Rotunda Dr bridge near the Ford Motor Co. River Rouge complex and I-94 in Dearborn.

This week, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters joins the podcast to talk about his advocacy for President Biden’s comprehensive infrastructure proposal, The American Jobs Plan. Peters is traveling the state to advocate for the administration’s plan. He was in Grand Rapids Wednesday for conversations with a number of representatives involved in various components of infrastructure, including MDOT Director Paul Ajegba, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, Anthony Tuttle of the West Michigan Cybersecurity Consortium, Erin Kuhn of the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission and a member of the Michigan Infrastructure Council, and Laurel Joseph of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council.  The senator recorded the podcast following the Grand Rapids event Wednesday. He participated in a similar event in Lansing on Thursday.  Peters discussed the ongoing negotiations and whether reconciliation was an option. Meanwhile, the president met again this week with West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito to broker a compromise and floated another $1 trillion plan on Thursday as outlined in a Wall Street Journal story (Subscription). The reporting indicated that under the president’s suggestion, the biggest companies would pay a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent, according to people briefed on the matter. Unlike Mr. Biden’s proposed corporate tax-rate increase to 28 percent or changes to taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign income, the minimum tax wouldn’t directly reverse the 2017 law.  In the roundtable conversations, Peters pointed out that we can save more money if we invest in infrastructure now than we will if we push off investments. In fact, the senator mentioned that for every dollar invested in infrastructure, you end up saving close to $7 of taxpayer money in the long run. He pointed to the Gordie Howe International Bridge as an example of investments up front that pay big dividends in the future because of the importance to the economies in Michigan and Canada. MDOT photo: Senator Peters and MDOT Director Paul Ajegba at a round table event in Lansing. 

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan, talks about what tourism industry officials expect as pandemic restrictions are relaxed and Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer vacation season. While travel is not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels, AAA forecasts 1.1 million Memorial Day weekend travelers in Michigan this year, a 57 percent increase from 2020. AAA says most Michigan travel from May 27 to 31 will be by car, leading to busy roads.   To aid safe travel, the Michigan Department of Transportation will once again suspend work and lift lane closures where possible on road and bridge projects across the state. A list of active projects is available on the Mi Drive website.  Lorenz is enthusiastic about the travel forecast and what it will mean to tourist sites across the state. But he also talks about the challenges coming out of the pandemic, especially hiring enough workers to meet the demands of restaurants, hotels and resorts. Lorenz emphasizes the need for patience as people train and learn new jobs.  Nikki Devitt, president of the Petoskey Chamber of Commerce, underscored that in an interview with the Detroit Free Press.  “It’s still going to be the same beautiful place you love,” Devitt said. "But we ask that you bring with you a little patience and grace. And understand that you may have to wait a little bit longer, that some hours may be different. But that small business needs you so that they can continue to be here for years to come."  Lorenz also discusses the toll the closing of the border with Canada, now at 14 months, has taken on Michigan’s tourism industry.   Other references:  https://www.tourism-review.com/post-pandemic-tourism-will-set-off-new-trends-news12009  https://theconversation.com/post-pandemic-travel-the-trends-well-see-when-the-world-opens-up-again-153401 

In the wake of a presidential visit to the Dearborn Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and a subsequent announcement about production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning truck, this week’s podcast examines charging infrastructure in Michigan. In the first segment, Aarne Frobom, a senior policy analyst at the Michigan Department of Transportation who has been studying a package of bills related to electric vehicle charging stations, offers some historical perspective on efforts to provide commercial services at state-owned rest areas. Later, Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Trevor Pawl, who was on hand for President Biden's visit Tuesday, talks about Ford’s plans for the F-150 Lightning and what the state is doing to support what we know will be increasing demand for charging stations. While discussions of installing electric vehicle charging stations at rest areas is relatively new, the debate about the use of those rest areas is as old as the roads themselves. As E&E News put it in a 2019 story: "When Congress passed the law that enabled the interstate highway network in 1956, it banned almost all economic activity at rest stops, including anything that aided motorists. That was the result of lobbying from businessmen near the highway who worried that the rest stop would be an irresistible draw." Frobom talks about the discussion over the years at the state and federal levels and recounts MDOT's long-ago efforts to work with private entities to offer services on a state-owned site. He also discusses the differences between electric vehicle charging stations (electricity comes from government-regulated public utilities) and traditional gas stations, sharing some insight from the book The Gas Station in America. He explains how as the automobile grew into a national phenomenon in the early 20th century, competition between gasoline companies prompted them to engage in “place-product-packaging,” which involved incorporating the entire gas station design into a brand name. In Pawl’s segment, recorded Wednesday afternoon, the focus is on President Biden’s visit to the Ford Rouge plant Tuesday and anticipation of the official reveal of the F-150 Lightning, which happened Wednesday evening. The president talked about the history of the Rouge Complex and how the facility is making history again. Pawl explains why Detroit is at the epicenter of transformational change again, and why it is vital for the state to support development of more electric vehicle charging infrastructure.  He pointed to policy issues that he said need to be addressed and the importance of working with other states. Other links: https://www.transportdive.com/news/NATSO-commercialization-interstate-rest-stop-electric-charging/595536/ http://wwmt.com/news/state/questions-of-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-loom-ahead-of-biden-visit-to-michiganPodcast image courtesy of Joenomias on Pixabay.

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with three people who participated in an MDOT public service announcement, explaining why they received a COVID-19 vaccine and think others should, too. First, Kim Henderson, who manages MDOT’s Graphic Design and Mapping Unit, talks about why she felt it was important, as a Black woman, to share her testimonial. She has been volunteering at Union Missionary Baptist Church in Lansing to help promote the need to get vaccinated. She also served on the Covid Help Team for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), completing daily case reports and directing calls to individuals that tested positive for Covid statewide. Next, Aaron Jenkins, MDOT media relations representative for the University Region, comprising the counties around Lansing, Ann Arbor and Jackson, shares his reasons for getting vaccinated and being an advocate for others to do the same - from wanting to hug his grandchildren to feeling the need to be an example in the community. Jenkins and Henderson reference the historical reasons for distrust of government and health care officials among some Black people, including the horrors of the Tuskegee Experiment.  The third guest, Melissa Greif, a financial analyst in MDOT’s Gaylord-based North Region, talks about her experience being infected with COVID-19. She details the mental and physical discomfort she experienced and how she hopes her story inspires others to pursue vaccination and avoid the same symptoms. Photo courtesy of the National Cancer Institute on Unsplash. Image shows a nurse administering a COVID-19 shot.

On Tuesday, Michigan hosted the National Work Zone Awareness Week event in the midst of a Rebuilding Michigan project on M-59 in Macomb County. On this week's Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Stephanie Boileau, county highway engineer for the Chippewa County Road Commission and president of the Michigan Chapter of the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA).Boileau was among the speakers at Tuesday's event, joining Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, MDOT Director Paul Ajegba, Michigan State Police Col. Joe Gasper, Leslie Fonzi-Lynch (the mother of a fallen worker), and other advocates for road worker safety. Boileau talks about her personal connection to the issue in previous jobs, having lost colleagues in work zone crashes. She also emphasizes the need to engage lawmakers in discussions about work zone policies and laws.  Fonzi-Lynch spoke poignantly about her son, Brandyn Spychalski, a road worker injured in a crash in 2017. He died in 2020 from the injuries he suffered. Other references: This year's work zone safety public service announcement, in memory of the five workers killed in Michigan work zones in 2020. Andy's Law, named for Andrew Lefko, who was paralyzed after being struck by a vehicle while working on I-275 in 1999. He was 19 years old, and it was his first day on the job. Andrew died in 2018. Video from the live stream of Tuesday's event.

In recognition of Earth Day, this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features a conversation with Margaret Barondess, who manages the environmental section at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).More than 50 years ago, Congress adopted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Barondess reflects and explains how the act informs planning for transportation projects in Michigan and MDOT’s efforts to at once protect our air, waterways, wildlife, and plants and minimize inconvenience to travelers.  While critics of NEPA have argued for scaling back the need for environmental impact statements, supporters tout NEPA’s role in saving money, time, lives, historical sites, endangered species, and public lands while encouraging compromise and cultivating better projects with more public support. Barondess also talks about the challenges and rewards she and her team have experienced in recent years from listening to community members who would be affected by a project like the I-94 modernization project in Detroit and the I-75 Corridor Conservation Action Plan in Monroe County. Among specific endangered species in Michigan is the eastern massasauga rattlesnake.Other references:The Detroit Free Press this week ranked invasive species in Michigan. (Subscription)The Natural Resources Defense Council on the imperative of maintaining NEPA.Creative MDOT efforts to support Michigan’s critical bee population with sun flowers along freeways. Some creative solutions to protect wildlife and political theater.  

On this week's Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Doug Hecox, acting director of public affairs at the Federal Highway Administration, shares his insights on the origins of interstate highways and wrestles with unanswerable questions about the future.  Hecox likes to remind people that the Interstate Highway System is "the largest human-built thing in the world."The discussion ranges from the debate about President Biden's proposed infrastructure plan to why it has always been difficult for policymakers to agree on how to fund transportation systems, to what the ongoing development of connected and automated vehicles will mean to highway capacity. This includes a discussion about the president and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's emphasis on racial, social and environmental justice. We cannot right the wrongs but the history needs to inform future decisions.Hecox explains why he's a champion of the decision to invest in the Interstate Highway System. He also underscores why it is important for future planning that the highways accommodate the people they are supposed to serve.The conversation also touches on the history of the Good Roads movement and how cyclists, not drivers, advocated to pave roads. Such was the case in Michigan and the work of Horatio S. Earle, Michigan's first state transportation director.Other references:—     President Lincoln's patent (the only U.S. president to obtain one) and how it benefitted transportation.—     Companies continue to experiment with driverless delivery vehicles, including Michigan-based Domino's Pizza.This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and work to create the Interstate Highway System. 

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation with Andy Doctoroff about his op-ed published in the Detroit Free Press examining President Biden’s American Jobs Plan in the context of historic investments in U.S. infrastructure.  Doctoroff, who has made previous appearances on the podcast in his capacity as the governor’s office’s point person on work to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge, teaches a class he developed on infrastructure at the University of Michigan Law School. He talks about how his research for the class informed his column, which recounts the early resistance in our nation’s capitol to central government investments in “internal improvements” and explains the evolution over time in thinking.Acknowledging the challenges President Biden faces, Doctoroff writes: “Never has a Congress as closely divided as this one is, in a country so polarized, passed a major piece of infrastructure legislation. … Congressional enactment of the Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan would, in one unprecedented stroke, reverse the United States’ centuries-long and rarely interrupted history of underfunding public works.”Other references:—     The 2021 “report card” issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers.—     Forbes commentary on President Lincoln’s inspiration for President Biden on an infrastructure plan. —     A 2019 report from the U.S. House Committee on the Budget was based on hearings with several experts concluding the U.S. spends far too little on infrastructure.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, analysis and speculation about what President Biden is likely to include in his much-anticipated proposal to address the nation’s inadequate and crumbling infrastructure.  Lloyd Brown, director of communications for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), returns to the podcast to talk about what he’s hearing.  Will “Infrastructure Week” move from punchline to serious discussion with results? The Biden administration signaled an intention to roll out tangible ideas, indicating with Monday’s announcement to expand offshore wind turbines that infrastructure means more than roads and bridges.  We know U.S. Department of Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg has been working a lot of rooms, speaking with Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike. That plays to his strength as a collegial broker and strong communicator. And as a policy wonk, there is no doubt he’s quickly getting up to speed on the issues. Is this too much pressure?  In an interview with CNBC, Sec. Pete talked about why infrastructure offers a solid return on investment.   Other links and references from this week’s show:  Forbes on what we know now about the president’s plan. Roll Call on a discussion about restoring earmarks.  The Wall Street Journal (subscription) on the president’s push for offshore wind projects.