Weary travelers can take solace in knowing that what has become a daily traffic jam encountered while trying to drive across Traverse City should clear up in mid-November.
Then after about five months, construction is scheduled to begin anew for the western and northern part of an ambitious effort to rebuild U.S. 31 and M-22 from South Garfield Avenue to Cherry Bend Road in Leelanau County.
“A lot of your readers who will find themselves driving through next year’s construction project are riding through this year’s project,” said James Lake, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) North Region media representative. “Nobody likes the delays that go with road construction. But I think they also will see the improvements that have been made, and envision the improvements that will be made in the next corridor.”
For Leelanau, the biggest improvement will be the county’s first roundabout. It will be constructed at the county’s busiest intersection where traffic routinely backs up during daily commutes.
“I’m optimistic that the round-about will help,” opined attorney Kyle Trevas, an Elmwood Township trustee whose law office is located off Eighth St. in Traverse City. “The idea that you’re keeping people always moving along should help. I know there was a lot of concern with pedestrian safety and you have four connections coming in there along with the TART Trail and a sidewalk. If it does work it’s going to be an engineering feat.
“But the way it is now isn’t working.”
Trevas should know. His commute begins near Crane Hill Road and takes him through the brunt of backed-up construction traffic .
His travel strategy is simple. If he’s traveling east beyond Division St., the best option is to stay on Grand Parkway despite its stop-and-go nature.
If his trip into the city stays west of Division — say, a visit to Ace Hardware on Front St. — he turns onto Bay Street and winds his way south.
MDOT is in the midst of major projects that directly and indirectly affect Leelanau County commuters. It’s currently rebuilding a two-mile section of Grand View Parkway, with traffic cones ending about 500 feet west of Division St. The project has resulted in a reduction of traffic from four to two lanes, which can back up traffic into Leelanau County.
The good news is that project should be finished by Nov. 15. The bad news is that heavy equipment will return next spring, probably in April, to rip up the roadway from Division to Cherry Bend Road in Greilickville.
Lake said bids have not gone out for the Leelanau portion of the project, so a construction schedule has yet to be finalized. MDOT engineers plan to begin by tearing out portions of the existing highway the entire length of the project, meaning that the intersection of M-22 and M-72 will become a pinch point with traffic converging into two lanes rather than the four lanes now offered at Grand View Parkway.
Lake said two lanes of traffic will remain open through most of the construction. The exception may come during over night hours when only one lane will remain open, with traffic regulated by automated stoplights.
Pedestrians and bikers will have more options once the project is complete, Lake continued, with a 10-foot pathway to be built on the lake side of the highway and a 5-foot sidewalk on the business side. A “Hawk Signal” — one in which folks push a button to activate a light to stop traffic — will be constructed near Elmwood Ave. to provide safe passage for people wanting to join up with the Leelanau Trail. Elmwood Township is hoping to combine the project with nearby drainage work and construction of a sidewalk along Cherry Bend Road to improve nonmotorized travel to Cherry Bend Park, Trevas added.
“That’s been a goal on paper,” Trevas said of the sidewalk, “but it might actually be within striking distance.”
He appreciated MDOT’s efforts to communicate with and take input from the township and residents.
“From everything I hear they are talking to people,” he said.
