M-20 Corridor Study leads to future suggestions

With area communities working together, future development can take place on M-20 in an orderly and safe manner.
The recently completed Corridor Study was unveiled Thursday night at a public presentation co-hosted by the M-20 Alliance and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
According to written information from the M-20 Alliance, the purpose of the study was to plan for land use and suggest designs and improvements along the 18 mile stretch of M-20 between Mount Pleasant and Midland.
With the traffic increase on M-20 it is important to keep future development on the corridor “orderly, visually attractive and safe.”
The primary concern when this project began was safety, but it also became an opportunity to bring two communities together, said George Dunn, chairman of the M-20 Alliance.
Dunn said the corridor passes through five townships, two counties, two cities and a Native American Indian reservation.
Mount Pleasant is one of the cities involved in the project and Dunn said “CMU has been an active player.”
The consulting firm Wade-Trim was hired to develop a plan and make recommendations about the corridor and its development, he said.
Mary Ann Heidemann, vice president and planning group manager for Wade-Trim said, “This is not my project, it is essentially yours (the communities).”
One of the goals for this project is to maintain intergovernmental cooperation, and “to adopt a unified approach to the problem,” Heidemann said.
Heidemann suggested that the communities keep in touch and inform each other on their plans and “adopt standards that are similar.”
Because the corridor passes through so many places there can be “territorial” problems because “people get pretty excited about what they can and can’t do with their property,” she said.
With the increase of development on M-20 it is important to preserve capacity, “the ability of the road to move cars,” Heidemann said.
Every time a driveway is put in on the road, capacity is reduced, she said.
Heidemann said the plan is to balance the two ideas, to provide reasonable access to property and to preserve capacity.
To ensure M-20 will not, in the future, be rendered immobile at certain times of the day, planning is taking place now, Heidemann said.
“You are ahead of so many communities,” she said.
Another important aspect when looking at a developing area is accident data, because as soon as a new land use comes in new accident spots can be created, she said.
Although there have been improvements made on M-20 there are “a couple of intersections that are still a problem,” she said because it depends on “how people are using the road after the improvements.”
Heidemann said the issue of speed limit is also important for this plan, the general speed limit on M-20 is 55 miles per hour, but in urban areas it may be slowed down.
Heidemann suggested that to locate and keep watch over major traffic generators, which is ” some kind of land use that attracts a lot of traffic,” will help to see if something needs to be done or not with the speed limit, she said.
The Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort is a major traffic generator and “affects safety of the corridor and traffic movement,” Heidemann said.
By knowing what type of buildings will be developed “you can predict the level of traffic that will come with that,” she said.
There are different traffic levels for each type of building that is constructed, from housing units, to fast food restaurants with a drive through, to gas stations and manufacturing plants, and all exhibit different traffic patterns, she said.
When planning development and considering traffic, Heidemann said, “there are always choices,” and there are many options when planning driveway access.
Model ordinances were developed for the areas affected by the study and are not to be adopted all at once, she said.
The model ordinances were developed for the local governments to consider for adoption and to provide regulations on access management, landscaping, billboards, storm water management, and adult businesses, she said.
Heidemann said that people should pay attention to the landscape of the area because as new buildings are put up along M-20 it is important to keep the area as visually attractive as possible.
“People feel very deeply about the beauty of this area.”
Throughout the center of the corridor there is “a beautiful rural area,” and Heidemann said that as more asphalt goes in the more green needs to be added.
Billboards are also a concern and they can take away from the attractiveness of the area and “the more traffic on M-20, the more messages will be sent,” Heidemann said.
As one of the model ordinances, local governments are encouraged to develop their own regulations on billboards, she said.
Pedestrians have been hit on M-20 before and this is “a major concern,” Heidemann said. It is important to keep record of the accidents and “see if anything can be done to improve the locations.”
Bicycle traffic is also a concern for this road and there are many options for the bicycle traffic but “that wasn’t taken up in very much depth in this study,” Heidemann said.