2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

Appendix E

This document contains public comments received from the adoption of the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan for Southeast Michigan in June 2013 until October 2017.

State/ First Name Last Name Organization Title County City Date Comment Province

Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/1/2013 In favor of rail on Woodward Avenue.

Working with the Moroun family to get them to announce a re-opening date for Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/2/2013 the Michigan Central Station.

Jimmy Ward II Citizen 7/3/2013 Opposed to I-94/I-75 Expansion City of Hazel Jack Lloyd Mayor Oakland Hazel Park MI 7/5/2013 Impact of I-75 expansion on my city (Did not speak) Park

Made comment through meeting contact us form. Comment is below: I posted details about the upcoming Taylor meeting, and this is a response. Thought you might pass it along so it does not happen again... "Thanks for sharing-- unforutnately, if the I-94 Expansion/I-75/I-94 reconstruction public hearing is reflective of how SEMCOG conducts many of their meetings and "takes public Diane Mente Citizen Wayne Woodhaven MI 7/8/2013 input", I'm guessing this will do little to nothing in regards to public input. Plenty of SEMCOG members didn't even look at those giving public input--not that it was necessary to hear, it's a sign of interest and respect. It's not that hard to turn your chair around if you're sitting at a round table and make sure you are actually looking at someone."

It's been shown again and again that adding lanes doesn't reduce congestion- it worsens it. Invest that money in solutions that actually take cars off the road- and reduce congestion- like rail (both commuter and light rail), regional bus systems, van-pooling (with guaranteed ride home!), car-sharing/hourly rental, bike- sharing/hourly rental, and so on. If you can't bring yourselves to do that, invest that money in repairing unsafe & deficient bridges- not an unnecessary, counterproductive lane widening. MDOT's focus just now should prioritize being a good City Of Bonnie Wessler City Planner Washtenaw Ypsilanti MI 7/9/2013 steward of the network they have, keeping it safe, and reducing future Ypsilanti maintenance costs - all things that could be accomplished with encouraging and providing for alternate modes of transportation. Adding lanes just perpetuates the cycle of construction, congestion, construction. From an environmental perspective, shifting travel modes to non-single-occupant vehicles (through the methods mentioned above, of others not mentioned here) has a much higher long- term ROI than adding lanes. Adding lanes is just doubling down on a failing system- get out of it while you still can.

Good morning. I am a resident of Macomb Township. Unfortunately I have not been able to attend any of the meetings regarding bike paths or lanes that have been happening in the community. I would love to see some bike paths/lanes and safe areas created in my area to allow travel by bike. With the cost of gas escalating, and the fact that I work only 7 miles from my house, I would love to be Kathleen Graca Citizen 7/17/2013 able to ride my bike to work. The problem is, there are no safe routes to go from my home to my work place. A portion of my community does not even have sidewalks on the main thoroughfare to even consider riding a bike, let alone a bike lane. If you can give me the name or email address of the individual or area that I should be contacting to put in my plea for bike lanes in this area, I would appreciate it.

Livonia resident concerned about bike paths/road improvements in Livonia. Said Tim Reno Citizen 7/17/2013 that there are hardly any shoulders to the roads in his area. Advocate of creating bike paths. Hopes to attend one of the Nonmotorized Plan meetings.

Page 1 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

State/ First Name Last Name Organization Title County City Date Comment Province

Regional Rail Service from Chicago to Detroit Hello, Amy Malmer. Congratulations on SEMCOG's hard work on regional rail. Have you made contact with Nora Moroun about re-opening Michigan Central Terminal yet? I have a contact with Nora Moroun's secretary, Jennifer Dennis, and would enjoy working on re-opening Michigan Central Terminal but I understand from my conversations with Jennifer that CEO, Mathew Moroun and Nora Moroun are still reeling from the defeat of Proposal 6 from last fall's election. This said, the Moroun's have already moved part of their headquarters from Warren, Michigan back to the City of Detroit. I Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/31/2013 think a little kind persuasion will go a long way. I return from Quito, Ecuador on Friday, August 2nd. Please contact me my gmail of iPhone at that time. Good luck with all inner city projects discussed in this email. I am very excited, and approve totally. B.T.W., I am sending you this message from Cuenca, Ecuador. Thanks very much, Amy! Ooops! I saw the new terminal construction in Dearborn, MI before I left on July 15th. It is splendid! Thank you for keeping me in the loop! The construction of 5 new hotels in downtown Detroit is super! I cannot wait to hear about ground breaking for light rail on Woodward Avenue. Regards, Mark G. Flanders

Regional Nonmotorized Plan Public Comment Card I have been riding my bike from my home in Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor for 13 years. I have to say the current system is a messy patchwork of dangerously designed and poorly maintained bike trails. So, I mostly just ride along the street. I am an automotive engineer, so please excuse my detailed analysis below. The most direct route for me would be Packard St from Hewitt straight into town. This route includes off-street bike trails with many side-street intersections. Visibility is blocked by shrubs and tress, and drivers entering Packard rarely check for bikes on these trails. This is very dangerous. The bike lane on Packard is often blocked by weeds espeically on the east-bound side before Golfside. Packard between Carpenter and Jewett has very Richard Crayne Citizen Washtenaw Ypsilanti MI 8/5/2013 bad pavement and poorly marked bike lanes. From Jeweet on into town is mostly pleasant and safe until you cross State St. Then, heavy traffic get to be a problem. My current preferred route is Hewitt north to Clark Rd., east to East Huron River Drive, north on Dixzboro, and then I take the trail through Gallup Park to Fuller Rd into Ann Arbor downtown. The off-street bike trail along Hewitt is very bumpy and has sharp curves that slow bikers down. Side-street intersections are also bumpy. I could use the newer bike trail around McCauley Drive, but there are stop signs on the trail every few yards and the trail has tight curves that slow me down. The off- street bike trail along Huron River Drive has similar problems and it dead-ends at the bottom of the hill past WCC. Who wants to stop at the bottom of a hill when you're riding a bike?

On my return home heading east on E. Huron Dr, at the crest of the hill by WCC, the right lane suddenly turns into a right-turn lane and there is a little sign telling drivers to cross my bike lane to turn right. The painted lines on the street are not visible to drivers cresting the hill. If I follow the bike lane, it pushes me into the right lane, possibly in front of fast cars in the right lane trying to pass the slow- poke cars in the left lane. I'm sure they won't see the little sign. This almost happened to me last weekend, and I consider this section very dangerous. For these reasons, I only ride on the street from Packard and Hewitt to the Gallup bike trail. It's a real shame we spent so much money on these newer bike trails that are Richard Crayne Citizen Washtenaw Ypsilanti MI 8/5/2013 so un-friendly toward bikers. The B2B trail through Gallup Pak and on along Fuller Rd has many problems. The entry at Old Dixboro Rd greets you with big bumps and there are few sections with really nice pavement anymore. The trail is mostly rough, choppy or wavy. The trail is narrow and often blocked by pedestrians enjoying nature and not watching for other traffic. It would help if there was a center lane painted and signs encouraging pedestrians to keep right except to pass. I often worry about children's safety on this busy trail as well. I almost killed a dog on a leash that crossed the entire path. I didn't see the leash until it was almost too late. I had to slam on the brakes and nearly wiped out. Then, the oblivious dog owner cussed me out in front of her 5-year-old daughter.

Page 2 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

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With no lane markers and no clear rules about sharing the trail, I encounter these types of situations all too often. Going east on this trail from Dixboro to Geddes is really bad. There are big bumps on either end of the bridge over the Huron River that can knock you off your bike. I hate to sound like a complainer, but I've had Richard Crayne Citizen Washtenaw Ypsilanti MI 8/5/2013 years to stew on this. If there is some way I could get more involved (without sitting in long, boring meetings), I would like to learn more. The people that design our trail system should be cyclists that use the system and there appears to be a lack of sensible standards for designing bike trails.

Helping to improve bicycle and pedestrian paths and amenities Since I am unable to participate in any of the public meetings on SEMCOG's regional non-motorized plan due to being out of town during July and August, I am sending in my comments in writing. I am now retired, but I used to commute by bicycle from my home in Grosse Pointe Farms to the GM Technical Center in Warren about twice per week during the warmer months. Around 1980, I served on a SEMCOG committee that put together an earlier non-motorized transportation plan. Later, I worked with SEMCOG staff to create a series of bicycling "suitability" maps which SEMCOG printed for general distribution. At the time, there were very few facilities in the SEMCOG region that were specifically designed for bicycling, so William Frey Erie Township Supervisor Monroe Erie MI 8/5/2013 these maps were focused on the desirability (from an experienced bicyclist's point of view) of regional roads for bicycling. SEMCOG's database on area roads was used to rate the roads based on quantitative measures including average daily motorized traffic, pavement width, number of lanes and presence or absence of parking. Roads that had greater "effective width for bicyclists" in relation to the amount and speed of motorized traffic were rated numerically higher than roads with little space for motorists and bicyclists to easily share the road. Different colors were used to show the ratings of all the major roads in the region. I assume that SEMCOG still has a copy of these maps in its archives. If not, I can supply you with a set.

Page 3 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

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Your meeting announcement indicates that you plan to "create an inventory of existing facilities in the region." This raises the question of what you regard as nonmotorized facilities for this purpose. In your inventory I hope that you will interpret "non-motorized facilities" broadly and include all streets and roads where it is legal to ride a bicycle (basically all roads except interstate highways) and not only facilities such as bicycle lanes and shared bicycle-pedestrian trails. Every community in the region has some roads that are more attractive for bicycling than others. Mapping these using currently available road data should help identify them. But, bringing local bicyclists into the inventory process would William Frey Erie Township Supervisor Monroe Erie MI 8/5/2013 be the most reliable way to determine the best bicycling roads as they now exist. The announcement also states that you plan to "address the most critical gaps within the non-motorized corridors." Again, I would urge you to interpret "nonmotorized corridors" broadly, so that it includes existing roads as well as corridors where there are explicitly identifiable bike trails or lanes. By doing so, it will be much easier to identify possible connections that can be made to close those "critical gaps." In my experience, the most severe critical gaps in Metropolitan Detroit exist where there are interstate highways or railroad corridors and the only roads crossing them are not "bicycle-friendly."

There also tend to be more gaps in the outermost suburbs where the only through roads are the mile roads and no less-busy alternatives like half-mile roads that cross the freeways, mile roads, and railroad tracks. You also mention creating a planning resource that can help communities "coordinate facilities across boundaries." Like identifying the gaps, this is a critical part of your effort. Planners today that are familiar with bicycle facilities issues recognize that there is a wide variety of people who like to ride bicycles. Some cyclists through experience and/or association with bicycling organizations are capable of riding safely alongside motorized traffic (if not always comfortably, depending largely on whether othere is enough roadway width to easily share the road with motorists.) William Frey Erie Township Supervisor Monroe Erie MI 8/5/2013 Such cyclists tend to ride partly for fitness and are interested in making longer trips than more casual bicyclists, who ride closer to home and often on sidewalks instead of in the streets. As a regional planning organization, SEMCOG should focus on corridors that go longer distances of, say, 10 miles or more. There are also many kinds of bicycles. In the inner suburbs of Detroit where virtually all roads are paved, what is important to all cyclists is the condition of the pavement, whether it is smooth or full of potholes and cold patch. In more rural areas, it is important to know which roads and trails are paved and which sections are not because not all bicycles are equally at ease on gravel surfaces, especially when wet.

It is therefore important to include in your inventory whether a road or trail is paved or not, its condition and where there are "pavement gaps" along a corridor. A related issue concerns the presence, absence and width of paved shoulders on William Frey Erie Township Supervisor Monroe Erie MI 8/5/2013 busy suburban and rural roads. "Shoulder gaps" on such roads should also be identified and mapped to show where improvement is desirable. Thank you for your efforts to improve conditions for bicycling in the SEMCOG region.

Having been spoiled by transportation options in other places, it seems so obvious to me where Michigan should be putting its resources: into a robust rail and bus system that would seamlessly connect Detroit and its suburbs, zoning laws that Erica Flock Citizen 9/12/2013 encourage mixed use, infill and pedestrian-friendly development, traffic calming measures, and green infrastructure. As Millennial and an expat from Southeast Michigan, I want to add my voice to the scores of residents who have already movingly expressed their opposition to the I-94 and I-75 projects.

Page 4 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

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Good morning and well wishes! I am contacting you regarding my hopes for a bus/mass transit solution between the Novi area and Ann Arbor. I have contacted The Ride and U-M's parking and transportation with this suggestion as well. I have tried a number of group travel options, none of which have worked. From using a Park and Ride once arriving in Ann Arbor to a vanpool and a carpool, none of these Sabrina Miller Citizen 9/20/2013 solutions are really working for me. Small-group dynamics in car/vanpools just seem to break down - often resulting in a more stressful or unreliable commute. I am guessing that there would be more than enough interest in this route. A similar service is offered in Chelsea and Canton, but I would love to see something more accessible to me.

I have two general comments on the TIP. First, the exapnsion of I-94 in Detroit should not permanently remove any of the bridges connecting Midtown, Woodbridge, and New Center. The original introduction of the freeways broke up existing neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are currently revitalizing. This is dependent on the close links between the neighborhoods. Removal of the bridges reduces the physical links between the neighborhoods, increases congestion on the remaining streets with bridges, and could hamper some of the revitalization of the area. I understand it is expensive. I assume the leadership at SEMCOG also understands that any development in densely developed areas is expensive. The Josh Berkow Citizen 11/6/2013 past 50 years of urban development has clearly shown that breaking up neighborhoods has a negative effect on those neighborhoods. Repeating that would be a mistake. Also, I'd like to draw your attention to the public commenting process. The times to comment in-person are all between 9am and 5pm. I assume the leadership at SEMCOG recognizes these to be normal business hours. This is the time when the majority of your constituents will be at work earning their living. As public employees, you really should be seeking public comment. Scheduling in-person comment periods when most of the public is unable to attend indicates a lack of interest in public comment. Perhaps you didn't consider this?

I'm afraid I must disagree with your priority to start widening I-94 on the east side. I suggest that public transportation is so minimal - and unable to transport Detroiters to and from jobs reliably - that our area's priority should be to add to Grosse Pointe the supply and dependability of public transportation to enable residents to get to Frances Schonenberg Citizen Wayne MI 11/6/2013 Farms work as new jobs are developed. Detroit Future City speakers have emphasized their many resaons for giving jobs and public transportation equal priority, and convinced me. A widened I-94 can wait until more residents without cars can start to be enabled to get between their homes and their work (when they get jobs).

I would like to address an issue that never seems to get any attention from SEMCOG or any elected officials. State and local laws which have permitted motor vehicles to make right turns at red lights during the past forty years have made travel for pedestrians and bicyclists very dangerous. Many motorists make little or no effort to yield to pedestrians before turning at red lights. Some don't even stop at all. This law that allows such turns is not necessary and was enacted forty years ago in reaction to an energy crisis at that time. Little consideration was given to Carl Sorenson Citizen Wayne Taylor MI 11/18/2013 the rights and safety of non motorists. There is no reason why this law cannot be revoked. A second issue concerns the lack of pedestrian friendly sidewalks in many cities such as Taylor. There is a portion of Telegraph Road in Taylor North of Goddard Road where the city chose not to install a public sidewalk in order to allow a car dealer to have an extra lane for motorists wishing to visit the dealership. Not only is there no sidewalk in this area, there is no way for disabled persons to go past the dealership's driveway curbs. SEMCOG should address these issues.

Page 5 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

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Thank you for your reply. The area on Telegraph Rd in front of the Ford dealership is a major problem. That area was exempted from a sidewalk requirement while all of the other businesses were required to install them. This was an obvious concession to Ford, but a disservice to pedestrians. Ford needs to install sidewalks that comply with city codes as their neighbors have done. The solution to the turn on red problem is as simple now as it was in 1973. Before 1973, right turns at red Carl Sorenson Citizen Wayne Taylor MI 11/21/2013 lights were not permitted. An ill- advised state law was enacted to allow such turns. A similar state law banning the practice is now needed. There has never been adequate enforcement protecting pedestrian rights. The same problem exists with the requirement that motorists are supposed to stop in front of stop signs before proceeding. They never do. They always drive past the signs before stopping. Frequently, they only slow down and keep going. They rarely yield to pedestrians. It is time to start changing laws which are anti-pedestrian.

Dear Committee Members: The Michigan Suburbs Alliance would like to express our strong concern with several of the projects in front of you today for addition to the TIP, and we urge you to postpone action on these items to allow the sponsors to address outstanding concerns. As we tackle the twin problems of transportation funding shortfalls and public resistance to increased taxes, it is critically important that we handle these projects sensitively and demonstrate good stewardship of existing funding. The projects of concern are related to larger reconstruction projects planned for I-94 in Detroit, I-75 in Oakland County, and US- Michigan 23 in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, each of which would include an Program Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/22/2013 expansion of vehicle capacity alongside improvements for safety and Coordinator League modernization. While there may be a case for these capacity enhancements, the past work on the projects is either outdated or incomplete, providing no basis to move forward at this time. While some line items, such as bridge replacements, will need to happen regardless of capacity expansions, the answers to these questions will affect the design of those items. The I-94 and I-75 corridor projects were planned in the early 2000s--since that time, per capita driving in Michigan has declined about 7%, population declines have further reduced total vehicle travel, and SEMCOG forecasts do not show any significant increase in population over the next 25 years.

Additionally, the assumptions of freight congestion on I-94 predate the NITC and DIFT projects in southwest Detroit, which promise to divert international truck travel away from these segments of highway, further reducing congestion. Demographic trends, including large cohorts of retirees and Millenials, suggest that preferences for low-driving lifestyles will continue. For the US-23 work, the work needed to satisfy Federal NEPA requirements has not even been completed; MDOT's own feasibility study shows outstanding questions that need to be addressed prior to selecting which alternative for the project to advance. Michigan Program Additionally, there are concerns that the work on this corridor will not in fact Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/22/2013 Coordinator mitigate congestion, but simply move it to the interchanges and exits further League south on the corridor. In contrast to the uncertainty around the need for these projects, the harms are clear. Various community stakeholders around these projects have spoken on the direct harms of increased noise, loss of historic landmarks, induced downstream traffic and the further severing of connections between neighborhoods. In addition, the projects will increase long-term highway maintenance costs and support the continuing disinvestment from established communities, creating a disproportionate impact on these communities, which include the majority of metro Detroit's low-income and minority residents.

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In the face of these concerns, we must be cautious in our decisions and conspicuously show ourselves to be good stewards of the public interest and public funds. If we rush these projects forward without first reexamining the needs and selected options, we risk further hardening public and legislative Michigan Program sentiment against transportation revenue increases--a far more dire outcome Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/22/2013 Coordinator than simply holding action on these projects to allow time for a full public League examination. I urge you to demonstrate that stewardship by postponing this TIP amendment, or by amending it to remove the projects associated with I-94, I-75, and US-23 until the concerns have been addressed. Sincerely, Richard Murphy Programs Director

Summary of concerns for highway projects proposed for SEMCOG TIP. The following concerns must be addressed before advancing projects associated with the reconstruction and expansion of I-94 in Detroit, I-75 in Oakland County, and US- 23 in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties. These concerns apply to all three projects: 1) Michigan's light-duty (passenger) traffic as measured by per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT), has decreased 7% since 2005, alleviating aggregate passenger travel demand. 2) SEMCOG's demographic forecasts show no significant increase in metro Detroit's population, preventing future VMT growth, Michigan and additionally project disproportionate growth in the age cohorts of retirees and Program Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/22/2013 Millenials--demographic groups that show strong prferences for reduced driving. Coordinator League 3) The cumulative impact of the projects would be to incentivize continued migration of population and business from the region's core to its periphery, which would disproportionately impact minority and low-income residents in our older cities by further concentrating public sector legacy costs on those populations while simultaneously reducing access to jobs and other opportunities. 4) The opportunity costs of these projects include cannibalizing potential ridership for high-priority rapid transit projects, harming competitiveness for future Federal funding. This includes BRT concepts on Woodward, Gratiot, and Michigan Avenue, and the Ann Arbor-Detroit and WALLY commuter rail projects.

Transportation Provided public comments at the TIPDC meeting in opposition to I-94, I-75, and US- Daniel Sommerville Fellow Plymouth MI 11/22/2013 for Michigan 23.

I was unable to attend the public meeting Friday, but hope to be able to do so this week. In the meantime, I wanted to express my disappointment and displeasure in SEMCOG's TIP plan insofar as it relates to the I-94 widening in the City of Detroit. As I understand it, this includes adding service drives - this in the middles of a city (!) and particularly in a region of the city, Midtown, that is undergoing wonderful pedestrian-friendly redevelopment. Service drives do not belong on a Great Lakes freeway in the middle of a city. Perhaps in suburban areas, but not in the central Paul Kettunen Law Practice, Attorney Wayne Detroit MI 11/25/2013 area of a major city. Such planning represents 1960s-70's transport thinking which PLLC has no place in 2013. The overbuilt freeway system in this city has been counterproductive in the long run, prompting the fracturing and deterioration of neighborhoods and their literal death in the immediate areas bordering these freeways. Other cities have realized the detrimental cultural and economic impact freeways have had in urban areas and are dismantling them. And here we are in Detroit, doing just the opposite.

My immediate concern is that the impact on the Midtown area which has been going through such a resurgence despite the fact that several freeways crisscross and fracture its east, west, south, and northern sections. If nothing else, I strongly advocate refraining from widening the small portion of I-94 that runs through the Great Lakes Midtown area (i.e., b/t I-75 and the Lodge.) If widening of this area proceeds, it is Paul Kettunen Law Practice, Attorney Wayne Detroit MI 11/25/2013 a huge step toward inhibiting, indeed destroying, the redevelopment of the area PLLC affected. Widening freeways anywhere in the City of Detroit demonstrates a lack of vision for its future. It may increase the speed for drivers on Detroit's already over-built freeway system, but it permanently diminishes the ability for future development and growth in the areas where such work is planned.

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I can't attend any meetings, but I will be the voice crying in the wilderness. We need light rail to Eight Mile. I will tell you why I feel this way: 1) There are now an excess of 60 buildings planned or under construction in downtown Detroit. Light rail promotes better accessibility to downtown, particularly with the addition of Red Wings and Pistons new facility in Brush Park. 2)Yesterday's Sunday paper reports the pending destruction of I-375 from south of I-94 to east bound Jefferson Avenue. My designer for my state-of-the-art English garden at my home Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 11/26/2013 on 9120 West Outer Dirve, Kiana Doggan, happens to work for the New York entrepreneur who is building a designer hotel out of packing crates in the north- east corner of Eastern Market by Roma Cafe. I-375 is history, you can be on that! 3) Bus Rapid Transit is good, but if taken to a vote, I am quite positive that Light Rail will win on Woodward Avenue to Eight Mile. Please try it and see? 4) A quick disgression, I was just told by the president of North Rosedale Park's Home and Garden Tour that my English garden will be the featured garden of the 2014 Tour. This means my garden will be featured in the 2014 print media materials.

1) My designer, Kiana Doggan, feels confident that the I-375 project (removing this e-way for solid business district is a Go! - thus designer hotel out of packing crates near Roma Cafe near downtown Detroit will not be cut off from downtown.) 2) Two business owners on Grand River (west of Warwick - Always Brewing and S'Gees Clothing are asking how soon high speed buses are on Grand River? (*) Names and Phone #'s on request... 3) Final design of my soon-to-be award winning English garden at 9120 West Outer Drive - south of McNichols was made today after contractor walk-through (North Rosedale Park.) 4) As soon as funding is solid on R.T.A.; a vote on rail to at least 8 Mile should be requested? I heard on Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 12/2/2013 the way to Opera, 1 week ago Saturday, that a company in south atlantic has desinged cars & track for Light Rail to 8 Mile. Preparation for extension to Pontiac and beyond should be started after funding is in place. 5) I will work with my contacts with Ambassador Bridge Company: re-opening Michigan Central Station to high speed rail from Chicago to local rail on Woodward Avenue. Ambassador Bridge Company will be well-served to focus re-opening Michigan Central Terminal to train traffic. This concrete reality will soften the blow of a second span across the Detroit River from Windsor. Last, but not least, SEMCOG board, thanks for any questions you might have to my iPhone? (313-xxx-xxxx)

My name is Zachary Baker and I am a lifelong Michigander and Royal Oak resident. I would like to express my anger and frustration on freeway widening that could occur over the next years if these plans are implemented. I thought we have learned by now that freeway widening and expnasion hurts our communities and depreciates surrounding property values. This outcome for the sake of some semi- trucks moving faster and travel times being cut by only seconds is truly horrendous. The cons of this certainly outweigh any benefits this may have. I agree that freeways such as I-94 through the city of Detroit are in great need of repair, but expansion? NO. Please stop this outdated way of thinking. SEMCOG, Zach Baker Citizen Oakland Royal Oak MI 12/6/2013 you are stuck in a world where urban sprawl is still king and we know now that opposite is occurring. Young people, such as myself, see urban sprawl as an outdated way of thinking for urban and regional planning. SEMCOG, along with MDOT, is still propagating the unsustainable mess that is urban sprawl and continues to support anti-urban planning. Show us that you are serious about urban issues and mobility through increased support for public transit, biking, and walking. Highways and freeways are not the future. This is not 1950. STOP with freeway expansion and widening and SUPPORT a more sustainable way of mobility for all citizens. Thank you.

Joel Batterman Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: Traffic data and propsed I-94/I-75 projects.

Jim Casha Citizen Norwich ON 12/6/2013 Provided public comments at the TAC meeting. City of Royal Michael Fournier Oakland Royal Oak MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: Widen I-75/I-94. Oak

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Provided comment at Exec. on: Oppoissing amendment to the TIP that will Aaron Goodman Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 accelerte the process of purchasing nad demolisihing properties along I-94 and I- 75 for the highway widening project.

Grosse Pointe Anna Holden Citizen MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on support new EIS for I094 Widening-Sierra Club. Park City Of Hannah Kelley Oakland Detroit MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on I-94 rehabilaiton project. Ferndale

Michael Lamb Citizen Howell MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: Hard Shoulder Running US-23 Project.

Provided comment at Exec. on: Provided comment at Exec. on: A bus rapid transit Cornell Mitchell Citizen Wayne Highland Park MI 12/6/2013 meeting can switch from 6 pm to 4 pm because people have leave work plenty of time. I-375 can convert to pedestrian and bike lanes.

Provided comment at Exec. on: Why are you destroying neighborhoods, stealing Marilyn Mitchell Citizen Detroit MI 12/6/2013 more of our tax base, increasing polluiton and facilitating flight to the suburbs. Who is behind this freeway widening scheme?

Michigan Program Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 12/6/2013 Provided public comments on the TIP amendment at TAC. Coordinator League Michigan Program Provided comment at Exec. regarding role of SEMCOG in advancing highway Richard Murphy Municipal Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 12/6/2013 Coordinator projects. League

Hello, I am writing to urge you not to expand 94 and 75. I am sure I'm not the only one asking why you are not considering induced demand. Induced demand is the phenomenon in which added lanes on a highway cause people who were traveling other routes, at off-peak times, or using other modes to shift their commutes to the newly expanded road. Thus, the traffic and travel time gains made with the capacity expansion quickly dissipate. Having lived in both Chicago and St. Louis, in my experience, having traffic on a major roadway at peak times is normal. It's a sign of population and a healthy city. Understanding that it might take me longer to drive if I leave work at 5:00 versus if I wait until 6:00, to me is a basic, simple Claire Nowak-Boyd Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 skill. Especially in the era where nearly everyone has a smart phone or GPS, you don't even have to know the street grid to take an alternate route. I would hope the desire to remain on the highway is not bound up with cityphobia. It is not okay to tear down a big chunk of the vibrant, historic 4th Street community. It is not okay to tear down part of an elementary school, and to introduce a bunch of demolition dust to an environment full of kids. It is not okay to route a highway service drive right past a high school (especially since SEMCOG has been touting safe routes to school). If you want a shorter commute that badly, might I suggest moving to the city of Detroit?

Transportation Executive Megan Owens Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: Opposed to widening of I-75. Riders United Director

Noah Purcell Citizen Detroit MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: I-94/I-75 Widening.

Provided comment at Exec. on: Projects to be removed from 2014. Request for Daniel Sommerville Citizen Plymouth MI 12/6/2013 the removal of I-94, I-75, and Us-23 expansion project. Pieces from the 2014-2017 TIP Addiitons List.

Provided comment at Exec. on: Oppose TIP Amendment - Expansio of I-75 and I- Jim Townsend Butzel Long Associate Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 94.

Jim Townsend Butzel Long Associate Wayne Detroit MI 12/6/2013 Provided comment at Exec. on: Strongly opposed 6 widening I-75-I-94 and M23.

Provided comment at Exec. on: Repair the freeways but please do not expand them. Detroit has lost too many residents because of freeway building! This Thomas Zerafa TRU-MOSES Oakland Oak Park MI 12/6/2013 money would be better invested improving public transportation for the entire region!

I really support the creation of a Regional Transportation Authority for Detroit. Ryan Schaner Citizen 12/11/2013 Good luck!

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Knowing little about SE Michigan road planning, I found Mr. O'Leary's column in Mark Maisonneuve Citizen 12/16/2013 today's Oakland Press both informative and insightful. It gives me confidence that our road system management is in good hands.

Transportation Executive Megan Owens Wayne Detroit MI 1/24/2014 Concern about TAC change process Riders United Director

Sigh...a good write up by people who care about the city on why expanding I-94 is a poor idea. Mark Suchyta Citizen 2/3/2014 http://www.metromedia.com/features/WhyExpandingI94WontWork0331.aspx If only you guys cared about the RTA as much as you do the interstates. At least you could be innovative about it and include HOV or toll technology. Sad.

Dear SEMCOG, I am contacting you about the development of a gravel pit/mining operation recently proposed by McCoig Materials of Plymouth at a location near Chelsea, MI. The proposed site borders on Park Lyndon in the Pinckney Recreation Area. The proposed mining operation plans to operate 10 hours a day, and run 8 trucks per hour (estimated 80 trucks roundtrip per day - one every 3.5 minutes). These heavily loaded double trailer trucks will travel down M-52 through the middle of downtown Chelsea to I-94 destroying the wonderful small town Mary Mandeville Citizen 2/24/2014 atmosphere and causing public safety concerns. The operation of this mine would be a disaster for local tourism and local small businesses in SE Michigan. As you may know, the Waterloo and Pinckney Recreation areas are vital to local residents as well as many other visitors interested in hiking, biking, boating, swimming and camping. Everyone should be very concerned about the true environmental impact on the lakes, wetlands, and very special environmental conditions of this unique area of Washtenaw County.

McCoig's application states there will be little to no impact on the environment (which seems naive and untrue.) A neighbor mentioned that there is an unusual alkaline bog area with unique plants bordering the proposed site. Park Lyndon (please see http://www.ewashtenaw.org/government/departments/parks_recreation/lyndon /pr_pklyn.htm). And there is an amazing flock of sandhill cranes whose habitat will be destroyed. The major concerns are noise pollution, air quality (dust), traffic in downtown Chelsea, excess wear or roadways and the cost of upkeep, water quality, effect on the water table, effect on important wetlands (plants, frogs, fish, Mary Mandeville Citizen 2/24/2014 birds), diesel fumes, impact on tourism and jobs in SE Michigan, Dexter, Chelsea and the Pinckney/Waterloo Recreation Areas - the inevitable decline in property values due to noise-dust-traffic, and damage to endangered species. We ask for your support in getting the word out to your community in voicing your concerns to the Lyndon Township Planning Commission at [email protected] and your concerns over the economic impact on SE Michigan tourism to the Governor Rick Snyder (https://somgovweb.state.mi.us/GovRelations/ShareOpinion.aspx). Please ask him to stand behind his Pure Michigan campaign by appropriating funds through the DNR to purchase the land for a nature preserve. Thank you.

Jim Casha Citizen Norwich ON 3/3/2014 Need for regional cooperation with regards to the RTA.

I'm interested in water quality in our region. A few years ago, I started looking into the practices of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department that were polluting the Detroit River and Lake Erie. What I found was very disturbing, and I've been tracking DWSD ever since. I've been posting some of my findings and opinions on James Lang Citizen Oakland Royal Oak MI 5/13/2014 a blog which I share with 100 or so DWSD suburban customers. Thought some of you at SEMCOG might have varying opinions and/or could make additions or corrections. Recent posts have featured: NPDES Permit (May 12), Transparency (May 5), Electing Regional Leaders (April 30), and Disposing of Solids (April 22). detroitwatersewerblog.blogspot.com

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Transportation Matthew Trecha Bremerton WA 5/27/2014 Supports a Michigan-wide smart card for buses and better regionalism. Riders United

Nonmotorized Plan Public Comment I just updated my Greenways list of properties in order to search for property owners. (Pontiac Greenway Link) This document will give you an overview of the Greenway idea I am planning for Charlene Draine Citizen 6/9/2014 Pontiac...to include joint-protective pavement, bike/segue lanes, solar lighting, grey water catchment, waynfinders, etc. I will call and attend a workshop. The work you do at SEMCOG is important to my planning and your suggestions are valued. Thanks for reviewing my preliminary plan diagram.

Nonmotorized Plan Public Comment Since the Downriver Cycling Club established a relationship with you last fall when you spoke at our meeting in Brownstown, here's a suggestion on behalf of the cycling community for you to act upon on pass on to the appropriate office. Last Sunday's Club ride to Grosse Ile brought to our attention how perilous access is to us as we traverse the free bridge. The condition of the unpaved portion leading to the eastbound pedestrian walkway Diane Mente Citizen Wayne Woodhaven MI 6/9/2014 needs to be upgraded (paved). The poor condition of the asphalt "shoulder" immediately west of the bridge causes cyclists to unexpectedly swerve into the traffic lane. Not to mention the excessive amount of treacherous gravel on the pavement that needs to be swept away. We brought this to the attention of Township Supervisor Brian Loftus, and he suggested we contact you with our concerns.

Unless and until large municipalities and federal and state agencies open data programs like John Lui's Checkbook NYC 2.0, I propose that citizens set up and James Lang Citizen Oakland Royal Oak MI 6/12/2014 operate perpetually running, crowd-sourced funding audits. As you might guess, my first candidate would be DWSD.

Here are my public comments about using our Regional Transit Authority: Step 1. Street Car to West Eight Mile (-) It could be light rail to West Eight Mile? Step 2. Transit Center Construction at Eight Mile and Woodward Avenue Step 3. Light Rail from Northville to Saint Claire Shores Step 4. Light Rail from West Eight Mile Rd to Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/7/2014 Pontiac, MI (-) Steps 1. to 4. could be high speed buses, but I don't have data to prove real estate investment with buses as good as rail. Megan Owens from Transportation Riders United has some thoughts to share about using rail for mass transit ([email protected]). (--) I will be available July 23rd to talk about this use of our Regional Transit but not Thursday, July 31st.

Ann Arbor to Detroit Regional Rail Project Awesome! Thanks for the fast response. If raising property or other local taxes would help this effort, I strongly support Chad Baker Citizen 7/14/2014 increasing taxes for this effort. It would be really great to have alternate transit modes for commuting.

Beyond West Grand Boulevard - Final Copy Here are my thoughts about using our Regional Transit Authority: Step 1. Street car to West Eight Mile (-) It could be light rail to Eight Mile? Step 2. Transit Center Construction at Eight Mile and Woodward Step 3. Light Rail from Northville to St. Clair Shores. Step 4. Light Rail from West Eight Mile Rd to Pontiac, MI [Pending Oakland County approval.] Tier II Step 1. Jefferson Avenue Light Rail (East and West to Detroit City Limits) Step 2. Michigan Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/22/2014 Avenue Light Rail (West to Detroit City Limits) Step 3. Gratiot Avenue Light Rail (East to Detroit City Limits) Step 4. Grand River Avenue Light Rail (North-East to Detroit City Limits) (-) Above could be High Speed Buses for all routes, but $3 billion investment for 3.3 miles of track on Woodward Avenue? Step 5. Have Mayor Duggan elevate The Moroun family intentions. Re-Opening Michigan Central Station? Michigan Central Station to connect High Speed Rail from Chicago to local rail in Detroit should be done, in my opinion.

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Mr. Flanders attended SEMCOG's Transportation Coordinating Council (TCC) Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/24/2014 meeting and provided handouts of his comments that were emailed to us July 22, 2014. He also spoke for 3 minutes during the meeting's public comment period.

Dear SEMCOG: Congress has kicked the can down the road with a short term fix, which will only fund the Highway Transportation Fund through May 2015. Worse yet, this shortsightedness has stalled the campaign to provide passenger trains with the dedicated source of funding it needs. For too long, passengers have been National engaged in yearly fights to secure shoestring budgets for Amtrak. NARP is fighting Association Of District of to include trains in a comprehensive transportation fund. For as little as $5 billion Washington DC 8/4/2014 Railroad Columbia a year--roughly 1/8th of what we spend on highways--we could create a world Passengers class U.S. passenger rail network. That would fund a wide array of upgrades, including true high speed rail, additional frequencies on conventional speed routes, new equipment for the long distance trains, and restoration of service on missing links in the national network. Join us in telling Congress: stand up for trains!

Nonmotorized Plan Public Comment I wish I could attend this meeting which is Marguerite Maddox Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 8/15/2014 around the time of the M-1 Rail meeting at MSU Detroit campus on Woodward Avenue. Please make sure that this does not happen for future meetings.

Fund road repairs by increasing the income tax This is a repaet. What follows is the same thing I said in a June 26 email, but since state leaders still haven't come up with a way to fund road repairs, maybe they are ready to consider this: Here's an idea for funding repairs to Michigan's roads and bridges: increase the income tax. The current rate is 4.25%. Increasing it to 5.0% will generate about $1.45 billion, which is about what they say is needed. Here's how I arrived at that $1.45 billion figure. Total revenue from the income tax in 2013 was $8.211 billion. (Source: Annual Report of State Treasurer, page 19) Divide that by 17 and you get $.483 billion, the amount raised by each 1/4 of one percent (4.25 divided by 17 is .25). Steven Harry Citizen 8/25/2014 Multiply $.483 billion by 3 (the 3 quarters of a percent needed to raise the income rate to 5.0%) and you get $1.449 billion. Here are the advantages of raising the income tax to pay for roads: 1. Unlike raising the sales tax, it doesn't require a constitutional amendment. It can be enacted by the Legislature. 2. The legislation itself is simple - just a line added to Section 51 of the Income Tax Act, Act 281 of 1967 (page 12). 3. Raising the income tax rate has less impact on low income families than raising gasoline taxes or the sales tax. Income tax is paid only on the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds the total of personal exemptions ($3,950 per person in 2013).

Families with higher incomes will bear most of the burden. In 2011, the most recent year for which Treasury has published an analysis of the income tax, 98% of total income tax revenue came from filers with adjusted gross incomes over $50,000 (page 47), and 2011 was before the subtractions for pension income were cut back, which has shifted even more of the burden to higher income filers. Since the effective tax rate is always less than the nominal rate, no on e will feel the full Steven Harry Citizen 8/25/2014 .75% increase. In 2011, when the nominal rate was 4.35%, the average effective rate for filers with income over $50,000 was 2.55%. The highest effective rate was 3.42%, and that was for the group with incomes $300,001 - 400,000 (page 48 of the 2011 individual income tax analysis). And even if the full .75% increase was felt by someone with, for example, an AGI of $100,000, it would amount to less than $750.

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Hi, I recently read an article in the News Herald newspaper about the accident at Telegraph and I-94. I travel this road 5 days a week or more. I work on Telegraph at Wal-Mart. I myself have went through this intersection when it was first put in. After that all I could think was, Wow I could have just been in a terrible accident. I think that the traffic that is traveling South on Telegraph and entering East I-94 should both be going and stopping at the same time. The same goes for the North side also. Have you ever been at a traffic light and not paying close attention to the light and almost went the same time as the car next to you did? I have, and I Kristina Mullins Citizen 9/15/2014 think that's whats happening here. I have sat at the light several times and seen cars go through the light. I just felt like covering my eyes so that I didn't have to see an accident happen. It scares the heck out of you when you see someone go through the light. I have never witnessed an accident there yet, but I have drove upon one that had occurred. I think that you should really consider this. Let me know what you think about my idea. I even HATE stopping at this light, because I'm always afraid that the car behind me isn't going to stop and knock me into that terrible intersection. I hope that you pass my idea onto your superiors. Sincerely, A concerned driver, Kristina Mullins

Nonmotorized Plan Bike paths are fine. They should not be allowed to share the roadways, even with areas delineated by paint stripes, with automobiles. In fact, motorcycles or scooters should not be allowed to share roadways with autos. In a car I must wear a seat belt and have air bags while two wheelers are not even Dan Hamann 10/2/2014 required to wear a helmet. I however with live iwth the pyschological pain for the rest of my life if I should kill a two wheeled ride even if they are at fault. No gasoline or fuel tax should be used to fund bike paths. They should pay a bicycle tax sufficient to fund their riding paths.

Biking a lot in the city from my home in Midtown. Like to go as far as possible. Now the Riverwalk and Dequindre Cut are great. Would like to see more and have it all link together. Seems like the bike population in Midtown is doubling every Midtown Glenn Maxwell Wayne Detroit MI 10/2/2014 year. Biking is a great way to travel, see the city and stay fit. I support all of the Alliance improvements possible and the interconnection of these routes. Priority should be given to bike paths that are separate from the cars as possible. This maximizes the safety and minimizes interference with drivers.

Two observations about the nonmotorized plan. Regarding design, there is reference to cycle tracks, but nowhere does the plan include proposed millage for or development suggestions for buffered bike lanes. If the plan is designed to encourage increased usage, particularly among young people and women, Community buffered bike lanes provide that benefit. And they are considerably safer than Foundation For Program Thomas Woiwode Wayne Detroit MI 10/2/2014 traditional bike lanes. The second comment has to do with financing. The focus in Southeast Director the plan is on TAP funding, with a passing reference to the Natural Resources Trust Michigan Fund. A far more aggressive and beneficial funding strategy would be to change the funding formula and focus a higher percentage, and more money, on nonmotorized, rather than building new or rebuilding old, antiquated roadways. Thank you for your consideration.

I fully support increasing nonmotorized districts in southeastern Michigan. I feel Pam Haxton 10/3/2014 that pedestrian zones not only increase public access to special areas but can help slow traffic through city centers and in business districts.

Detroit Executive Todd Scott Greenways Detroit MI 10/3/2014 Spoke in support of nonmotorized planning at a SEMCOG meeting. Director Coalition

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Specific Feedback on Nonmotorized Plan - Pg. 9: The table is showing the actual number of pedestrian trips by county but is mis-labeled as the "Percentage of Pedestrian Trips by County". - Pg. 9: We recommend explicitly referencing the "one mile" concept in the section titled "Pedestrian travel is connected to other transportation modes". - Pg. 22: We understand there are long-range plans to extend the RiverWalk eastward (between the Belle Isle bridge and Maheras Gentry Park), but it is not reflected in the "proposed routes" in Figure 6. - Pg. 26: Freshwater "The likelihood of crash between a bicyclist and a motor vehicle can vary Stephen Maiseloff Transit Wayne Detroit MI 10/30/2014 depending on roadway and land use context, bicyclist and driver behavior, and Solutions, LLC other conditions. Many bicyclists have little training on best safety practices or are aware that they must comply with all traffic laws, when riding in the road." Equally true is that most motorists have little training on best safety practices as they relate to cyclists. We recommend updating this statement. - Pg. 28: The sharrow shown in the example photograph is being used incorrectly and contradicts the text description of the sharrow. In best practices, sharrows should never be positioned in the far right side of the road because by definition the road is already too narrow for a motor vehicle and bicycle to travel side-by-side in.

The sharrow is supposed to be positioned in the center of the lane. - Pg. 61: Detroit Projects: The Belt Line Greenway Connector is missing from this list. As they are currently applying for acquisition funding and plan to begin construction by 2018, it should be included. - Pg. 71: Given the similarities in the definition of a "green street" to the concept of "low impact development (LID)", we believe that LID should be mentioned as well. - Pg. 72: Funding should specifically mention "Safe Routes to School". While technically part of TAP since inception of MAP-21, it is run by MDOT as its own stand-alone program with its own pot of funding. Freshwater Qualitative Feedback - Our team especially found Chapter 4: Visioning the Future Stephen Maiseloff Transit Wayne Detroit MI 10/30/2014 to be engaging. The emphasis on development is key for both pointing out present Solutions, LLC deficiencies and future opportunities. Table 9 does a great job of showing where major opportunities lie in the region. We recommend noting that Washtenaw County, overall, could be looked at as a leader and role model to follow for the rest of the Region. Specially, this claim can be defended because Oakland and Washtenaw have an enormous amount of future planned Regional Pedestrian Access and Planned Bicycle Access. - We enjoyed the proactive approach the Chapter 4 lays out with recommending early education as a way to increase road- sharing safety.

- In comparing Table 9 and 10 it is clear that Detroit, even with the most opportunity areas for non-motorized transit, does not have the most presently planned non-motorized transit. This lack of parallelism should be addressed in the report as a problem area. We also recommend dedicating more space in the report to the situation in Detroit. - Our team suggests, as have many studies, that the RTCC Plan, finished in 2008, is not a viable, actionable non-motorized transit visioning document, and it should not be deemed a reference point going forward Freshwater for the region. - The report does not go into depth on the sum of pedestrian Stephen Maiseloff Transit Wayne Detroit MI 10/30/2014 crossings that are not accessible and in dire need of repair. Often overlooked, Solutions, LLC pedestrian bridges over Detroit freeways offer critical connections between communities and destinations. Unfortunately, they are often designed and maintained with little regard to their importance. We recommend including recommendations as to the acceptable distance to think someone will walk to cross a barrier/freeway. - We recommend including best practices for siting transit stops to maximize pedestrian safety (i.e. providing stops adjacent to crosswalks, providing adequate lighting around stops, etc.) since (as the report notes) 85% of transit users walked to their transit stop.

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- Our team didn’t see a reference to encouraging bike racks on transit vehicles, or for that matter anywhere. Bike parking is just as important as bike riding. - We recommend showing regional bicycle locker locations in the plan due to the difficulties in independently sourcing that information. - Our team didn't see Safe Routes to School mentioned in the plan outside the "education" section. Walking and biking to school, the dramatic decline in students who walk/bike to school, Freshwater and the resulting increase in traffic congestion around schools, are critical topics to Stephen Maiseloff Transit Wayne Detroit MI 10/30/2014 touch on. One innovative idea our team would like to see included is the concept Solutions, LLC of "Walking School Buses”. - Our team recommends a stronger treatment of "Complete Streets" in the report. A map showing communities that have passed "Complete Streets" ordinances would help. - We would like to see more information discussing plans or recommendation for a more walkable and crossable Eight Mile Blvd as well as an organizational stance on the future of the Woodward/Eight Mile overpass.

There should be more evening meetings for TIP so that people can attend and Ann Arbor provide public comments in person. The spreadsheets provided have a number of Area Deb Freer Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/3/2014 acronyms that may be difficult for people to understand. SEMCOG should provide Transportation a summary about a day in the life of a project. AAATA is looking to get involved in Authority the staging of projects before it is set in stone.

Comment on Transportation Project 2011510 Very much needed, where can I find David Marlow Citizen Livingston Hartland MI 11/4/2014 the current schedule for this project?

Dear SEMCOG Executive Committee, On behalf of Detroit City Councilman Gabe Leland (District #7) I am conveying his support for the FY 2015, FY 2016 and FY 2017 Metro Region Freeway Lighting amendments to the TIP which you will be considering this Friday. The Councilman and his staff receive daily inquires about lighting challenges throughout the city. Though these amendments are not Councilmem Gabe Leland City of Detroit Wayne Detroit MI 12/3/2014 specific only to his district nor the City of Detroit, he recognizes that along with ber, Dist. 7 the region both will benefit. He is excited to endorse these amendments and respectfully requests your approval. Very Respectfully, Joe Rheker Senior Policy Analyst & Legislative Assistant Detroit City Council, District 7 Councilman Gabe Leland 2 woodward Ave., Suite 1340 Detroit, Michigan 48226 313-224-2119 (office) 313-224-2155(fax)

Expressed concerns about the Lake Erie Transit system in Monroe, getting to and Todd Williams Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 12/15/2014 from doctor's appointments, ADA 504 status, and unlimited bus passes.

Proposition 1 is a regressive tax. Proposition 1 is a cynical and cowardly political maneuver to pay for needed road repairs by taxing most heavily those who can least afford it. It is cynical because it is being placed on the May 5 ballot - when the legislature knows that voter turnout will be low. It is cowardly, because the legislature did not have the courage to pass this regressive tax themselves, and have to take the blame for it. In the lead up to the May 5 voting, you are going to see a lot of ads supporting Prop 1 - they will be funded by those who stand to gain Laura Gumina 3/11/2015 from it: The construction industry and other big business interests. They will tell you that if you vote no, the roads will not get fixed. This is a lie. Voting NO on Prop 1 will simply force the state legislature to fund needed repairs properly, instead of making Michigan's already bad tax structure even worse. If you vote yes on Prop 1, your taxes will go up - forever! Vote NO on Prop 1. Share this email with all of your friends, and urge them to vote NO on Prop 1. Links: Prop 1 Why sales taxes are regressive (bad) Michigan tax structure ranks 29th!

Vice Rowe President Transportation Project 21442 How do I find out the breakdown of costs between Professional Jack Wheatley And Director Genesee Flint MI 3/17/2015 local and federal. Also, is this funding ($687,258) for construction only or does it Services Of Corporate included engineering fees? Company Marketing Public Works Question on RTP I was surprised to see vehicles listed on the RTP. I can sort of Robert Hayes City of Novi Director/City Oakland Novi MI 3/24/2015 understand it for transit agencies, but why would what I assume are DPW trucks Engineer be included?

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We cannot depend on our elected representatives to act in the best interest of Michigan citizens. Now we're asked to vote yes on a vague and poorly written ballot proposal to increase taxes to fix roads. How can we be sure our hard earned tax contributions will be used for the roads? I would vote for the tax increase Shores Joan 3/30/2015 when elected people in Lansing demonstrated their support of the taxpayers and quashed the move to a building we can't afford. The survey you provided at the SEMCOG website only allows people to pick one of your reasons for not voting yes and therefore would not reflect all reasons for no votes.

Joel Batterman Wayne Detroit MI 3/31/2015 Need for regional solutions.

Companies with billions of dollars of Mega Credits will forego the future value of the credits. In turn the State of MI will agree that the total dollars saved will be used to improve the roads and infrastructure in MI. These credits were issued when the economy was in freefall. Times have changed. GM and Chrysler received billions in government bailouts. Most were equity infusions without any payback. Ford to a much lesser extent received some assistance. The Mega credits were intended to save jobs in MI, create new jobs, and add plant. As to adding plant, Tom Deward 4/7/2015 GM used government bailouts to build the plants. (One could argue that some of the funds came from earnings.) There is no question that the roads and infrastructure in Michigan are in bad shape. The legislature is obviously afraid to do the right thing and thus we have Proposal 1. This would not be a long-term fix as over a billion is needed each year but it could be a short term fix until the legislature gets some backbone or comes up with a better idea. I have requested some information from the MEDC.

Even though they claim transparency I am not sure if I will receive timely responses. Once I get the information, I just have to convince the auto companies and suppliers to do what is in the best interest of the citizens. I realize this might be an uphill battle, but it appears that Proposal 1 is not guaranteed passage. Absent that we can just bury our heads in the sand and complain some more. So will I be able to convince the auto companies and major suppliers to do the right Tom Deward 4/7/2015 thing and forego the credits? Probably not, without some support. Autos and good roads seem to be a good fit. Who will pay the sales tax? Primarily individuals with some exceptions such as contractors but that is ultimately paid by the buyer. Who benefited most from change from the SBT to MBT and who paid the cost? It’s time for the auto companies and suppliers to give back. Will 1% added on to the price of a car reduce sales? Perhaps a negligible impact. I suggest the goodwill from this give back will increase sales enough to offset any giveback.

Hello Mr. Tom Palombo, & Ms.Kathryn Lomako: My nephew Neil Flanders will be visiting from Vermont in May, 2015. It is my goal to offer SEMCOG choices in trolley transit soon. Neil is a very talented graphic artist & photographer. When he was here in February. We looked at establishing a connection to Michigan Central Train Station via trolley from Woodward Avenue along West Lafayette Boulevard, to Sixth Street, north to Bagley Avenue. Turn left and follow Bagley Avenue to south-side of Michigan Central Station. Point 1.) Is this something we should do? It is absolutely no problem if I don't do this, but Mayor Duggan asked me to express Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 4/13/2015 my opinion on transit. Point 2.) It is my opinion that we should do this as last night, I just drove through the neighborhood of Brush Park last night after I saw the opera, "The Merry Widow." Brush Park looks like a construction zone. It looks fabulous! I had friends at the opera last night who live in Royal Oak who intend to move to Mid-Town in the coming year. 3.) Mr. Palombo, and Ms. Lomako: Neil (CC) & I await your responses on our next move.You both know that Ms. Shanelle Jackson now works for The Mouron family. Shanelle, you may recall, let me speak first at the first combined R.T.A./S,E.M.C.O.G meeting in 2013 at 1001 Woodward Avenue. I have the sense that things are moving in the right direction.

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HH Travey Survey Public Comment I'm sick and tired of seeing the government put Arabic and Spanish special sections and provisions for these people. No other country in the world does such a thing. It's my tax dollars you are wasting to help aid the illegal aliens that keep flooding into our country. Stop wasting our money James Peters Citizen 4/15/2015 and stop aiding the illegal migration of New liberal Democratics soon to be voters. Stop making it easy for Muslum terriorist to infiltrate our country. Stop making it easy for the Mexican gangs and drug cartels from setting up shop in our country and gaining a political voice in the state and federal governments of our country. Wake up before it's over! Road improvement will be the least of our worries.

I think Governor Snyder should write a letter regarding the Commuter Challenge City of Commission to every community that does not have easy bus transportation, sidewalks or safe Patricia Hardy Bloomfield Oakland Bloomfield Hills MI 4/27/2015 er pathways for pedestrians and bikers. Can you get this message to him? Pat Hardy, Hills City Commissioner, Bloomfield Hills

Subject: Re: Traffic crashes, fatalities up in southeastern Michigan Question: outside of Detroit, do the SEMCOG numbers show that a person is more likely to die in an auto accident than homicide/homicide by known associates? This sort of study has been done in other metros and it would be interesting to judge peoples Eric Douglas Citizen 5/21/2015 perception of safety based on where they live. I recall 2014 being a down year for murders in Detroit and I don't know what the count would be outside of Detroit for both sets of numbers. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/21/traffic- crashes-fatalities-southeastern-michigan/27707421/

Point 1.) There is little continuity in written plans for mid-twenty-first century. There isn't a hint about non-automotive transit which should be the wave of the Mark Flanders Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/26/2015 future. Point 2.) The present projections lack focus needed for this present century. I am very disappointed with our leadership in south-eastern Michigan.

Something has to be done about Michigan's Auto Insurance. I am a senior citizen and the Insurance is out of control. I live with a limited income. Please make A Ruffie Citizen 6/30/2015 changes to out auto insurance so we can still live with a little extra money in our pockets. Thank you A very concerned citizen.

I am writing to offer my comments on the amendments to the 2040 Regional Tranportation Plan. My first reaction to the amendments, as well as to the 2040 RTP overall, is that SEMCOG is clearly stuck in 20th century transportation thinking. SEMCOG is too focused on single-occupant automotive transportation as the singular means of moving people around the region. Transit is a distant second and nonmotorized is an incidental afterthought, added on as part of a road resurfacing or widening designed to accommodate still more cars. To SEMCOG, it is still 1955. Meanwhile your own data show that Vehicle Miles Traveled in southeast Michigan peaked in 2001. We should be following the lead of successful transportation leaders like Janette Sadik-Khan, who by focusing on nonmotorized Tim Hinkle Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/30/2015 transportation and traffic calming techniques, has drastically reduced crashes and injuries, while giving a boost to retail sales in urban districts through the use of protected bike lanes, parklets and the like. Successful transportation and urban planning must recognize that maximizing automotive throughput is the enemy of walkability and density. As a bicycle commuter, I find it pathetic that there is only one stretch of Jefferson Avenue in Detroit with a protected bike lane. Considering the low cost of implementation, high rate of adoption and low cost of maintenance, I do not understand why we don't have a grid of protected bike lanes throughout the metro area. Furthermore, the 2040 RTP fails to take into account the looming infrastructure crisis that our country will face.

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People are driving less, vehicles are more fuel-efficient, and gas taxes have not gone up in decades. That adds up to a massive highway funding crisis. There simply is not enough funding to maintain the roads that we have - much less the vision of the 2040 RTP that calls for more numerous and ever-wider roads, highways and expressways. Finally, as a lifelong resident of southeast Michigan, it has been a major point of frustration for me to see the tragic waste, inefficiency and lackluster service resulting from maintaining two separate mass transit services in the three counties. DDOT and SMART were supposed to merge decades ago. Due to our dysfunctional regional politics, it never happened. It must happen. And SEMCOG must make it happen. The failure of the two systems to Tim Hinkle Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 7/30/2015 merge and the inability of regional leadership to deliver a comprehensive regional transit system is inexcusable. The time is now to move on from the toxic regional politics of the past and move forward together. No more James Robertsons. We need comprehensive regional transit. The RTA is a start, but SEMCOG must step up and push for a SMART/DDOT merger and the re-establishment of a true regional transit system, like we had with SEMTA. In sum, until SEMCOG starts viewing transportation through the lens of "how can we move people efficiently across the region," rather than "how can we move automobiles efficiently across the region," our people and our economy will continue to suffer the massive opportunity costs incurred due to ineffective regional governance.

Rather than spend infrastructure funds to expand I-94, I would like to see the money invested in increasing mass transit options. Studies are indicating that Sarah Mollner Citizen 8/18/2015 millennials not only drive less but are interested more in carpooling options. Repair what we have, demolish what can't be repaired and focus our future on sustainable transit development plans.

I have had the misfortune of attempting to contact various officials of the Regional Transportation Authority. Mr. Paul Hillegonds and Mr. Michael Ford have not returned several E – Mails and telephone calls. I wish to discuss to the disposition of railroad commuter cars, currently stored at Owosso, which have been rebuilt to operate on rail routes planned for Ann Arbor to Detroit and Ann Arbor to Howell. As you are aware, these routes have experienced implementation delays and actual operation may be as long as 4 years in the future. The Detroit Free Press, in articles written by Paul Egan, has raised questions concerning MDOT’s use of Mark Campbell Citizen Oakland Bloomfield Hills MI 9/8/2015 public funds to acquire and refurbish railroad cars which have no current or near – term use. Regrettably, this planning failure has caused taxpayer complaints which, I fear, endanger all public transportation projects. (SEE Detroit Free Press, Sunday, September 6, 2015, page 16A, THE FEEDBACK FILE – “Enough Talk About Rail Line Between Detroit, Ann Arbor”). Public transportation is a very difficult “sell” in this town and such negative citizen comment will exacerbate resentment for money spent on any transportation except roads. In point of fact, I support MDOT’s purchase and repair of these car.

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I want to thank you for conducting a survey to understand the transportation needs of Michigan residents. I appreciate that MDOT and SEMCOG are using “data” to make decisions on how to spend tax payer dollars. I reside in Troy and am very happy to participate and provide my feedback as Oakland county resident. I would like to take this opportunity to request that your department Senior Vice Bharath Vijayendra RDA Group Oakland Bloomfield Hills MI 9/21/2015 consider local Michigan based market research (MR) companies like ours to President provide these types of services. We are based in Bloomfield Hills, MI and have been in market research business for over 46 years. We have over 150+ employees in this location. Please visit our website (www.rdagroup.com) for more information. We would very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss our MR capabilities for future consideration. Thanks and look forward to hearing from you.

City: Richmond, MI Road: 32 Mile Division Rd. by Gratiot and Main St. 48062 There is a lot of texting and driving on this road and no road signs. Semi-trucks doing Robin Lorenger Citizen 10/14/2015 over 70 mph. My mailbox has been hit about 7 times and an individual got hit once as well. There needs to be signs on speed limit and warnings to avoid accidents in this area.

SEMCOG, I am commenting on your Public Participation Plan. Title VI has only three protected classes: Race, Color and National Origin. They may seem similar but they are unique. By adding the other discrimination classes into your statement you may be confusing people who try to seek discrimination remedy under Title VI. We just went through our Triennial Review process and found we needed to change our statement to reflect only the three protected classes. From page 6 of SEMCOG’s Plan: Religion or Sex is not a protected class under Title VI. Suburban From FTA Website a PowerPoint Presentation: Quote from FTA website: “Title VI Mobility of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the Federal law that protects individuals from Senior Andrew Thorner Authority For Wayne Detroit MI 10/16/2015 discrimination on the basis of their race, color, or national origin in programs that Planner Regional receive Federal financial assistance”. This is a screen shot of your statement: Page Transportation 2 of your Title VI Non-Discrimination Plan has the correct statement seen below: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is the overarching civil rights law which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, in any program, service or activity that receives federal assistance. Specifically, Title VI assures that, “No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance.”

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Title VI has been broadened by related statutes, regulations and executive orders. Discrimination based on sex is prohibited by Section 324 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which is the enabling legislation of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 prohibit unfair and inequitable treatment of persons as a result of projects which are undertaken with Federal financial assistance. The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 clarified the intent of Title VI to Suburban include all programs and activities of federal-aid recipients and contractors Mobility Senior whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not. In addition to Andrew Thorner Authority For Wayne Detroit MI 10/16/2015 Planner statutory authorities, Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Regional Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,” Transportation signed in February of 1994, requires federal agencies to achieve Environmental Justice as part of its mission by identifying disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. Environmental Justice initiatives are accomplished by involving the potentially affected public in the development of transportation projects that fit within their communities without sacrificing safety or mobility.

In 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued its DOT Order to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low Income Populations to summarize and expand upon the requirements of Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice. Also, Executive Order 13166, “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP),” provides that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin under any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance. Suburban While it is illegal to discriminate against sex and other groups, it is not a Title VI Mobility Senior protected class. As stated above sex discrimination is prohibited by Section 324 of Andrew Thorner Authority For Wayne Detroit MI 10/16/2015 Planner the Federal-Aid Highway Act, not the Title VI Act of 1964. Executive Order protects Regional Low-Income and Minorities not Title VI. Your Title VI Compliant Form is also Transportation inconsistent with Title VI. The first paragraph is correct but on the second page the check boxes include more than the three protected classes. The FTA required us to modify our form to only include the protected classes. If we have a complaint regarding sex or disability, we handle the complaint much like any other (through customer service and supervisors). Our legal team initially only reviews Title VI complaints based on the three protected classes. Again, just my thoughts, as we were told by the FTA during our August review. Andy.

Muskegon needs alot of help and could be a great tourist destination. It's very run down needs to be cleaned up including crime. The casino would help tremendously. Hopefully then other businesses would come and in all put more p d pole to work. There are many people here who would like to work but cannot get jobs. The go-bus could have more on the roads as it is difficult to get rides on them. The taxis are ratty dirty and scary. The matt bus drops people off long Marsha Franklin Citizen Muskegon Muskegon MI 10/19/2015 distances from destination which is hard for handicap people not to mention dangerous in many places. The welfare building is in middle of heights which is very dangerous and perhaps could move someplace that's safer. The go-bus definitely needs to be more available as most the time cannot get rides when there st a ff are all g er thing only a few hours a week. And mm any people are in need.

Need to get rid of the car insurance Michigan has it is highway robbery. Nobody Marsha Franklin Citizen Muskegon Muskegon MI 10/19/2015 can afford it. Its about 10 times more than any other state. What's wrong with that picture?

Why not reestablish the litter laws that once kept Michigan clean? Raise money Marsha Franklin Citizen Muskegon Muskegon MI 10/19/2015 that way it use to work and there would be cleaner streets and maybe reestablish pride.

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Besides fixing roads also need to tear down nasty condemned house that are Marsha Franklin Citizen Muskegon Muskegon MI 10/19/2015 being used for gangs and drugs. There are whole neighborhoods that need to be flattened.

I have reviewed the draft and find it to be very well done. I would like to suggest one additional area to be included under what is now titled “Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for Southeast Michigan” and that is our Rivers and Waterways to be used for recreation. The other water related section deals with Water Quality and not the use of the rivers. More and more people seem to be interested in canoeing and kayaking on our rivers but many of them are not currently accessible or suitable for this recreation and exercise use. If this use were to be included in Mayor Pro the “Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan etc” than it could more accurately be referred to David Rhoads City of Saline Washtenaw Saline MI 10/19/2015 Tem as “The Non-motorized Plan etc”. The City of Saline, City of Milan and the Townships of York and Saline have begun to dialogue about the possibility of supporting the establishment of a non-profit, The Friends of the Saline River, to make the Saline River navigable from Saline to Milan and later to the City of Monroe. This will require some effort to clean up log jams and to establish some entry and exit points for the boaters. The Saline River will then become the equivalent of a non-motorized pathway without the expense of procuring property and to construct a paved path.

The City of Madison Heights passed a resolution on October 26, 2015 in opposition to the I-75 Widening Project Funding Methodology and in Support of Senate Bill City Of 557 which would eliminate Act 51 requirements for local share contributions on Madison Cheryl Printz Madison Clerk Oakland MI 11/2/2015 this and other MDOT Trunkline projects. The City Council of Madison Heights Heights Heights strongly objects to MDOT's planned advancement of the I-696/I-75 "Braid" phase of construction from the original 2020 to 2018. The City of Madison Heights is requesting that MDOT honor its previous construction segment phasing.

Traffic Safety Plan Hello SEMCOG, We are interested in health, equity and prevention being incorporated as values and potential metrics in the traffic safety plan. Our health survey data shows that walking and biking around neighborhoods Washtenaw Public is the primary way most people get exercise in our community. Making sure Stephen Wade Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/5/2015 County Health sidewalks, bikeways, crosswalks, routes to school, bus stops, etc are safe and traffic is moving slowly are high health priorities for us. Do you have a suggestion for the most constructive way for us to provide input into the plan regarding these issues?

Traffic Safety Plan Thanks for this info, It is very helpful. I have one more question. Equity is an important issue in Washtenaw County and we are hoping to look at all policies through an equity lens. Next week we are releasing an Equity Index that Washtenaw Public will map the highest and lowest opportunity areas in Washtenaw County. I don’t Stephen Wade Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 11/6/2015 County Health see much in the plan regarding equity, especially as it relates to safety for our low income, minority and transit dependent residents in particular. Could the plan speak to prioritizing some portion of the safety interventions in areas where we have the highest densities of these residents?

Here are my comments on proposed plan. No bicycles should be allowed on public streets as they pay no fuel taxes or registration fees to build or maintain roads. Motorcycles should be banned as they are smaller and less visible. Car and truck operators and passengers are required to wear a safety harness yet motorcycle Dan Hamann Citizen 11/9/2015 operators, surrounded by nothing but air as opposed to metal panels and crash cages with passive crash protection required in passenger vehicles, are not even required to wear a helmet or any type of restraint. As for your proposed speed cameras, I want less government intrusion and spying not more.

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Traffic Safety Plan Thank you for all of the work on the plan. A couple of comments regarding the proposed plan: 1) There needs to be additional scrutiny regarding commercial traffic on (especially on I-94). There is substantial commercial activity on I-94 and there is a significant difference in speed between commercial trucks and other drivers. When commercial trucks change lanes, there is disruption to the flow of traffic (this is especially true when the highway is two lanes and a commercial truck pulls out into the left lane of traffic to pass another commercial truck which is traveling 1-2 miles per hour slower than the passing truck) and an Melissa Johnson City of Chelsea Mayor Washtenaw Chelsea MI 11/12/2015 increase in traffic safety concerns. Perhaps there can be a specific review of commercial truck speeds, whether adding an additional dedicated truck lane is feasible at some locations (many states have dedicated commercial truck lanes) and/or additional regulation and/or education about lane changes? 2) Additional coordination between state, county and local governments about roadway improvements is important. Local governments often have the best understanding about how roadways are used in their area and what might be potential impacts of some "improvements."

I travel this section of I96 daily for work, I support the use of the shoulder area to move the traffic. The section from Novi to Kent Lake is a major slow down and usually takes me longer to move through than the commute from Detroit to that stretch. I’m also hoping that there’s MORE than 2 lanes on the I96/US23 Overpass Karen Thompson Citizen 11/12/2015 because the split to US23 is HORRIBLE. The right lane sits idle while the left 2 lanes fly by. I know it’s those that wait to get over into the right lane and those not realizing that there’s only 2 lanes that go over the bridge. I hope whoever designed this change knows that the existing design is NOT moving traffic, its slowing traffic worse than the old exchange.

Traffic Safety Plan Why can't the traffic lights be sequenced at the following Bob Paterson Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 11/13/2015 intersections: Stewart and Monroe, Stewart and Telegraph, and Telegraph and Mall Rd?

I read in the newspaper about the possibility of using the inside shoulder lane during rush hour, to reduce traffic congestion. I have long been an advocate of that, having seen it in other states including Illinois and California, and want to offer one additional suggestion. These rush hour lanes could also be marked "car Jay Duprey Citizen Oakland Novi MI 11/16/2015 pool," for vehicles containing two or more people. This would encourage more individuals who live in Howell or Brighton to pair up with a friend from work, thereby reducing the vehicle count and congestion. Please move the study and implementation along, it's a no brainier. I'd like to cut the ribbon with Carmine before he retires!

Re: “SEMCOG is seeking comments on study” in Detroit Free Press article, Tuesday, 11-17-15 There are two phrases in the FP article: “reduce speed” and “speed management”. There is no further mention of this as an underlying cause of traffic deaths I have been following for years and speaking out whenever I had the opportunity about the worsening condition of our “road safety” being tied to the speed at which people drive. 1. The auto industry sells 2,000 + pound missiles Jim Carnagie Citizen 11/17/2015 equipped with distracting devices, 2. capable of going 70, 80 , 90, 100 miles per hour and more 3. Allows them to travel mere “feet” apart at these speeds 4. The government considers the lunacy of raising the speed limits on roads because so many drivers are going faster than posted limits and then wonders why there are increased traffic deaths. SPEED KILLS It doesn’t not take a million dollar study to see this.

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SEMCOG is seeking comments. What an invite, Like the Godfather making an offer I could not refuse. I'm please to say that I accept the invite. The one thing I would like to request is that a reply would certainly be appreciated. First let me say that the 40% number reminded me of a saying we had in our old college course (Statistics). It was figures can lie and liars can figure. The next thing that came to mind was an old joke. We have some partial ball scores to report, Cleveland 3. The studies 40% is like the Cleveland 3. It's a partial. In and of itself, it means absolutely nothing. If I were a part of a group being paid to study and all I could report was a 'partial' result I would feel I had stolen the money I was paid. So Russ Kraft Citizen Bloomfield Hills MI 11/17/2015 where do I go now that I know the 40% number? Do I get up and yell, "We are doing great" or do I slump down and say "this is terrible?" So you see, the 40% "partial" needs to be qualified. If you tell me that 40% of the fatal crashes occurred in southeastern Michigan, but 65% of the miles driven in Michigan were in southeastern Michigan, I could, probably rightly so, conclude it is safer to drive southeastern Michigan than in the rest of the state. Likewise, if only 25% were driven, than it would be more dangerous. I hope this makes sense, if not we are in real trouble. I could go on. You talk about intersections being a major source of problems. That is an easy fix - eliminate all intersections.

Oh, I see, that would be like impossible, right? But would not making every street one way help? In major areas this is entirely possible. In many old cities streets were laid out like a grid. Every other street being one way would actually cut the odds of an accident at the intersection in half and would virtually eliminate head on collisions (got to factor in the going the wrong way on a one way street possibility). In closing, if you stop and think about it there is another flaw. If you do in fact make driving in southeastern Michigan safer, you have made driving in the Russ Kraft Citizen Bloomfield Hills MI 11/17/2015 rest of the state more dangerous. See how simple it is to use facts the wrong way. You have to make driving in Michigan safer, not just driving in southeastern Michigan. And your comment about pedestrians is flawed. Is it not true that there are likely to be many more pedestrians in the tri-county area at any given time than in more rural areas. I would bet Grand Rapids has more pedestrian fatalities than let's say Holland or Ludington. I'd be interested in comparing Detroit and Grand Rapids for those numbers. Thanks for getting this 78 year old mind started this morning. It is nice to have mental stimulation to get the blood moving.

I commute regularly between Albion and Ann Arbor Michigan on I-94. The interstate between mile marker 142 and 137 is hazardous on good weather days and a virtual death trap on bad weather days. This is an area of high volume in the Jackson area with many cars and trucks exiting and entering the freeway, there is Perry Myers Citizen 11/23/2015 no interior shoulder on the interstate in this area, nor is the condition of the roadway very good. Until these problems can be alleviated at the very least the speed limit between mile marker 142 and 137 on I-94 should be reduced to 55 mph. I am certain especially in winter that this would decrease the number of wrecks that occur.

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Subject: SB13 We believe that government should encourage its citizens to take part in the democratic process. This subversive legislation (SB13) which is designed specifically to suppress and disenfranchise voters is a betrayal of our core democratic principles. We are aware that similar legislation was enacted in 1964 and 2001, and both times Michigan voters have overturned such legislation by voter referendum, and the attempt to make this pending legislation “referendum proof” is an attempt to silence the voice of the people. We are Charter further aware that the MACC, MAMC and the Michigan Townships Association are Susan McCullough Township Of Deputy Clerk Oakland Oxford MI 12/14/2015 all opposed to this legislation. We are aware and have experienced firsthand the Oxford fact that the State of Michigan has the sixth longest voting lines in the country (The Pew Charitable Trust). As election workers, we fear that this legislation will lead to even longer voting lines and increase voter frustration and anger. We are aware that the State of Michigan already has the longest ballots and we are concerned that this legislation will cause more spoiled ballots and lower voter participation. As election workers, we are fully aware that we are the first people that are confronted with voter frustration.

We believe that the voting process should be as “user-friendly” as possible, encouraging more and more people to exercise their right to vote. We fear that this legislation will have the exact opposite effect. We believe that SB13 will lead to significant voter drop-off at the bottom of the ticket. Because Michigan has one Charter of the longest ballots in the country, we see significant drop-off as voters make Susan McCullough Township Of Deputy Clerk Oakland Oxford MI 12/14/2015 their way down the ballot. SB13 will exacerbate this problem. Furthermore, in Oxford order to offset the drastic impact of SB 13, Michigan must pass legislation to allow all voters to vote absentee! To combat longer lines and wait times, Michigan must join 32 other states by loosening restriction on absentee voting. If SB13 moves forward, voters must have more options to vote how it’s convenient for them!

Transit Public Comment With Detroit's revitalization and influx of people moving into Detroit, I feel the need for an improved regional transportation system for both the city and suburbs - one which will include commuter trains. Commuter trains complimenting our current bus system, the People Mover, and the M-1 Rail. Sterling I like the M-1 train and WALLY line ideas. Those complimenting the M-1 Rail and Gary Provenzano Citizen Macomb MI 1/20/2016 Heights People Mover are an excellent start. On the commuter trains, however, may I suggest a line continuing from the M-1 Rail at or near the Woodward corridor to Pontiac, with perhaps another at or near either the Groesbeck or Gratiot corridors and then even another headed down river. This is my comment and just an idea and you can let me know what you think.

Hello, my name is Marrio Dalton-Robinson and I live in Ypsilanti. I'm 27 years old and a active member of my community. I want to get a full neighbor community service stated. Something more that we can do to get our people out and into Dalton- Marrio Citizen 1/25/2016 enjoying our lovely state. I would love to gain your knowledge in some things and Robinson programs your has to offer. Please if you will contact me and maybe we can meet or talk for a few. I'm just a person who wants a better tomorrow and it starts with us as a whole.

Apologies for the delay. I took these pictures late fall 2015. There are several spots at Woodward and MLK/ Mack Blvd where the brick won't last due to no proper Amelia Lounsbery Citizen 1/29/2016 runoff. This is new road. We need this to last. The builders should not let this happen- don't they know this is important? I hope this is useful information for you.

Please see attached resolutions from the City of Berkley, Resolution No. R-02-16 is in opposition of Public Act 269 and Resolution No. R-03-16 is in opposition of Annette Boucher City of Berkley City Clerk Oakland Berkley MI 2/3/2016 House Bill 5016. Both resolutions were introduced and passed at the City Council meeting on Monday, February 1, 2016.

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Thank you for including a focus on sustainable community development, improving transit, welcoming immigrants, and (re)training the workforce in partnership with higher education and human services. Because of the attention to Flint since this report was published, it is probably necessary to explicitly name this as a negative perception to overcome. I do not see anything in the report about human diversity as an asset. While the track record of minority business Assistant development programs has been mixed, minorities have a track record of Wayne State Professor, Richard Smith Wayne Detroit MI 2/12/2016 entrepreneurship that can be leveraged regionally. Immigrant entrepreneurship is University School Of explicitly tackled in the report, but not the potential contributions of women, Social Work LGBT, Native-Americans, African-Americans and native born Asian Americans and Latinos. Likewise, different populations will need different training needs. I see a note of those with criminal history. You could add veterans as they return from war. The ongoing debate about amending Elliot-Larson to include civil protections for women and LGBT employees would also be essential to recruit skilled workers from out of state and also serve lifelong residents.

These sorts of specific strategies can be included in the action steps on 75. Present the local industry clusters in graphical format, not just the traded industry clusters (p. 50-52). Several of your action steps would be supported by showing the local industry clusters (e.g., on p. 38, there’s a discussion of the lively music scene—this is one of the local industry clusters ranked 12th in the nation Assistant [http://www.clustermapping.us/region/msa/detroit_warren_dearborn_mi/cluster- Wayne State Professor, Richard Smith Wayne Detroit MI 2/12/2016 portfolio]). Make an explicit link between investor visas, Foreign Trade Zones, University School Of regional centers and jobs. One action step could be to work with the US Agency Social Work for International Development urban development desk to commission a feasibility study for a bi-national metropolitan region. The bubble graphs are difficult to read (% jobs by location quotient). Convert to flat circles and place the labels on the graph. Remove circles that are too small to realistically place and have a table with the details.

A RESOLUTION FOR RESPONSIBLE SPENDING OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN WHEREAS, communities across the southeast Michigan face an acute shortage of transportation funds to repair existing streets and bridges, address safety needs, and provide the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and employers; and WHEREAS, within the City oT Royal Oak these needs specifically include the repair of existing roads; and WHEREAS, the Michigan State Michigan Department of Transportation has approved and intends to commence House of Representati Jim Ellison Ingham Lansing MI 2/23/2016 major highway reconstruction and capacity expansion projects on 1-75 in Oakland Representative ve, Dist. 26 County and 1-94 in Detroit, wlth expected costs that may exceed $4 billion dollars, s including hundreds of millions for capacity expansion; and WHEREAS, the 2040 Long-Range Plan states that traffic congestion in southeast Michigan is "limited," that the region will not regain its 2000 population with the next 25 years, and that any increase in traffic levels will be modest; and WHEREAS, surveys performed by SEMCOG show that a majority of the region's residents do not support raising taxes for the purpose of expanding highway capacity;

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and WHEREAS, the expansions threaten significant negative impacts to the communities they traverse, including displacement of residents, destructian of local tax base, loss of property value, increases intraffic noise, aggravated air pollution, and continued dishvestment; WHEREAS, it has been well established that such road expansions provide only temporary relief, while exacerbating traffic congestion in the long run; and WHEREAS, $4 billion would be far better spent addressing our region's desperate need for a comprehensive regional transit Michigan State system to meet the needs of residents; and WHEREAS, cities across the state are House of Representati Jim Ellison Ingham Lansing MI 2/23/2016 suffering consequences of decades of anti-urban policies, such as freeway Representative ve, Dist. 26 expansions, which encourage sprawl while decreasing investment in the very s population centers where the majority of residents live; and WHEREAS, state law dictates that not only must cities and villages suffer the consequences of these policies, but in fact, must bear a portion of the cost of opening, widening, and improving state trunk line highways resulting in further deterioration of existing local infrastructure; and WHEREAS, SB 557 introduced by State Senator Knollenberg proposed to eliminate the requ~rement that Royal Oak residents' tax dollars be redirected to a project that harms our community;

A RESOLUTION FOR RESPONSIBLE SPENDING OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN WHEREAS, communities across the southeast Michigan face an acute shortage of transportation funds to repair existing streets and bridges, address safety needs, and provide the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and employers; and WHEREAS, within the City oT Royal Oak these needs specifically include the repair of existing roads; and WHEREAS, the Michigan Department of Transportation has approved and intends to commence major highway reconstruction and capacity expansion projects on 1-75 in Oakland Michigan State County and 1-94 in Detroit, wlth expected costs that may exceed $4 billion dollars, House of Representati Jim Ellison Ingham Lansing MI 2/23/2016 including hundreds of millions for capacity expansion; and WHEREAS, the 2040 Representative ve, Dist. 26 Long-Range Plan states that traffic congestion in southeast Michigan is "limited," s that the region will not regain its 2000 population with the next 25 years, and that any increase in traffic levels will be modest; and WHEREAS, surveys performed by SEMCOG show that a majority of the region's residents do not support raising taxes for the purpose of expanding highway capacity; and WHEREAS, the expansions threaten significant negative impacts to the communities they traverse, including displacement of residents, destructian of local tax base, loss of property value, increases intraffic noise, aggravated air pollution, and continued dishvestment;

WHEREAS, it has been well established that such road expansions provide only temporary relief, while exacerbating traffic congestion in the long run; and WHEREAS, $4 billion would be far better spent addressing our region's desperate need for a comprehensive regional transit system to meet the needs of residents; and WHEREAS, cities across the state are suffering consequences of decades of anti-urban policies, such as freeway expansions, which encourage sprawl while decreasing investment in the very population centers where the majority of residents live; and WHEREAS, state law dictates that not only must cities and Michigan State villages suffer the consequences of these policies, but in fact, must bear a portion House of Representati Jim Ellison Ingham Lansing MI 2/23/2016 of the cost of opening, widening, and improving state trunk line highways resulting Representative ve, Dist. 26 in further deterioration of existing local infrastructure; and WHEREAS, SB 557 s introduced by State Senator Knollenberg proposed to eliminate the requ~rement that Royal Oak residents' tax dollars be redirected to a project that harms our community; and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the City Commission of the City of Royal Oak opposes the inclusion of these highway capacity expansion projects in the 2040 Long-Range Plan; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Commission especially opposes the proposed Transportation Improvement Project amendments pertaining to the acceleration of the widening of 1-75 between Eight Mile Road and M-59;

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and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Royal Oak City Commission requests that the funding currently programmed for these capacity projects be redirected to other roadway projects, such as performing preventive maintenance and rehabilitating existing major roads, bridges and local streets; addressing critical safety needs; developing and implementing mass transit; and enhancing the overall quality of life through these measures; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the city of Royal Oak will utilize all legal means at its disposal to prevent this expansion from taking place; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the city of Royal Oak supports the passage of SB 557 which, at the very least, would end the requirement that Royal Michigan State Oak residents fund a project that will bring harm to our city; and BE IT FURTHER House of Representati Jim Ellison Ingham Lansing MI 2/23/2016 RESOLVED, this Resolution shall be transmitted to SEMCOG and its Member Representative ve, Dist. 26 Communities, the Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Department of s Transportation (MDOT), Oakland County Road Commission, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Commission, Governor Rick Snyder, and Representative James Townsend and Senator Marty Knollenberg. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the City of Royal Oak hereby adopts this Resolution requesting that the two expansion projects be excluded from the 2040 Long-Range Plan, and funding redirected towards other needs, until such time as their utility is re- examined in the light of current transportation and funding conditions. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of a Resolution adopted by the Royal Oak City Commission at a meeting held on February 22, 2016.

The Planning Commission is proud to have served upon the Task Force that helped to formulate this plan and believe that it will be an excellent tool to help guide economic development within the region and particularly in Monroe County. We feel that this is a comprehensive document that will enable the Southeast Michigan region to successfully participate in the economy of the future. In Chairperson, particular, Monroe County is looking forward to the transportation and other Board Of Monroe infrastructure improvements that will enable our county to contribute even more Henry Lievens Commission Monroe Riga MI 2/23/2016 County to the region's economy, particularly the reconstruction of 1-75 and the ers, District construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. We look forward to 9 participating in all of SEMCOG's future region-wide economic development efforts, and will gladly serve on any future economic development task forces and councils that SEMCOG may create in upcoming years. Please continue to make Monroe County aware of all efforts towards developing and coordinating economic development within the Southeast Michigan region.

Automation Executive Our mission overlaps with 8 of the 11 initiatives you outline. I look forward to Tom Kelly Oakland Troy MI 2/26/2016 Alley Director seeing how we can work together when this gets adopted.

Highway widening - Numerous well-documented studies have shown that highway widening does little or nothing to reduce congestion. This is not Southwest something deserving of already meager transportation funds. I-375 - I-375 is a Detroit major impediment to cyclists and pedestrians in the downtown area. Transit - Jon Barth Wayne Detroit MI 3/1/2016 Business Public transit in our area is very lacking, and I believe that investment in things Association such as bus rapid transit (BRT) will significantly benefit our region. Non-motorized facilities - I would love to see greater investment in greenways, bicycle lanes, and other non-motorized transportation infrastructure.

Called about attending the transportation certification public meeting. Provided Michael Cloutier Wayne County Wayne Detroit MI 3/1/2016 the link to the SEMCOG location web page which includes information on parking.

Expressed interest in attending the transportation certification public meeting, but Livingston may not attend due to the weather. Encouraged him to submit their transit- Essential Deputy related comments directly to FTA/FHWA and indicated that we can provide him Greg Kellogg Livingston Howell MI 3/1/2016 Transportation Director with any materials distributed at the meeting. He replied that he will send any Service (LETS) comments to Stewart at FTA per the public notice, and that he would like SEMCOG to forward any materials distributed by FTA.

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Secretary To City of Hazel Resolution was passed by City Council at a Regular City Council Meeting on March Lisa Mayo MaryAnn Oakland Hazel Park MI 3/16/2016 Park 15. 2016, regarding opposing the widening of I-75. Gieraltowski

RESOLUTION FOR RESPONSIBLE SPENDING OF TRANSPORATION FUNDS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN WHEREAS, communities across the southeast Michigan face an acute shortage of transportation funds to repair existing streets and bridges, address safety needs, and provide the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and employers; and WHEREAS, within the City of Pleasant Ridge these needs specifically include the repair of existing roads; and WHEREAS, the Michigan Department of Transportation has approved and intends to commence major highway reconstruction and capacity expansion projects on 1-75 in Oakland County and I-94 in Detroit, with expected costs that may exceed $4 billion dollars, City of Amy Drealan Clerk Oakland Pleasant Ridge MI 3/22/2016 including hundreds of millions for capacity expansion; and WHEREAS, the 2040 Pleasant Ridge Long-Range Plan states that traffic congestion in southeast Michigan is “limited,” that the region will not regain its 2000 population with the next 25 years, and that any increase in traffic levels will be modest; and WHEREAS, surveys performed by SEMCOG show that a majority of the region’s residents do not support raising taxes for the purpose of expanding highway capacity; and WHEREAS, the expansions threaten significant negative impacts to the communities they traverse, including displacement of residents, destruction of local tax base, loss of property value, increases in traffic noise, aggravated air pollution, and continued disinvestment;

and WHEREAS, it has been known since at least 1962 that, on urban commuter expressways, peak-hour traffic congestion rises to meet maximum capacity (“The Law of Peak-Hour Expressway Congestion” by Anthony Downs, 1962). Simply adding capacity to existing roadways will not solve traffic congestion. This is widely known as “induced demand,” where capacity additions induce more traffic to use the road; and WHEREAS, recent research finds that the quality of evidence linking highway capacity expansion to increased vehicle miles traveled is high, and that capacity expansion leads to a net increase in vehicle miles traveled and not City of just a shifting of vehicle miles traveled from one road to another. Further, most Amy Drealan Clerk Oakland Pleasant Ridge MI 3/22/2016 Pleasant Ridge studies of the impact of capacity expansion on development in a metropolitan region find no net increase in employment or other economic activity (“Increasing Highway Capacity Unlikely to Relieve Traffic Congestion”, Susan Handy, University of California, Davis 2015); and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the City Commission of the City of Pleasant Ridge opposes the inclusion of these highway capacity expansion projects in the 2040 Long-Range Plan; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Commission especially opposes the proposed Transportation Improvement Project amendments pertaining to the acceleration of the widening of 1-75 between Eight Mile Road and M-59;

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and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Pleasant Ridge City Commission requests that the funding currently programmed for these capacity expansion projects be redirected to other roadway projects, such as performing preventive maintenance and rehabilitating existing major roads, bridges and local streets; addressing critical safety needs; developing and implementing mass transit and a true regional multi-modal transportation system; and enhancing the overall quality of life through these measures; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this Resolution shall be transmitted to SEMCOG and its Member Communities, the Michigan Municipal City of Amy Drealan Clerk Oakland Pleasant Ridge MI 3/22/2016 League, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Governor Rick Pleasant Ridge Snyder, and Representative Robert Wittenberg and Senator Vincent Gregory. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the City of Pleasant Ridge hereby adopts this Resolution requesting that the two expansion projects be excluded from the 2040 Long- Range Plan, and funding redirected towards other needs. The foregoing resolution was offered by Commissioner Perry and supported by Commissioner Scott and same was duly passed at a regular meeting of the Pleasant Ridge City Commission held on March 15, 2016, and that the vote was as follows: Yeas: Commissioner Perry, Scott, Foreman, Krzysiak, Mayor Metzger.

Greetings, SEMCOG Leadership— Recently, more than 350 people who use Michigan Flyer-AirRide buses to access airlines at Detroit Metro Airport sent protests to the Wayne County Airport Authority about its treatment of people with disabilities. We hope you will take time to read their heartfelt comments to ensure a full understanding of the situation, and the pain it has caused passengers for the past 18 months. Their complaints concern not only WCAA’s new plan to establish segregated, disabled-only bus stops through revised ground transportation regulations, but also its September 2014 decision to move the public bus stop (including SMART buses) from curbside at the McNamara Terminal Gordon Mackay Michigan Flyer CEO Ingham East Lansing MI 3/22/2016 (Delta Airlines) to the far south end of the Ground Transportation Center parking garage. Alleged ADA violations aside, WCAA took both steps without soliciting public comment. As if to say it answers to no one, WCAA often points out that Michigan law (Public Act 90 of 2002) gives it immense powers to write laws, rules and regulations, and enforce them with its own 100-member police department. In contrast, as responsible public bus transportation operators, we feel obliged to notify passengers of changes that adversely affect their travel experience. That’s why we sent them a series of alerts about DTW in September and October 2014, and again this year in January, and on March 3 and March 16.

However, we’d much rather be promoting the airport and its airlines.Previously, more than 500 Michigan Flyer passengers—who are also the airport’s passengers—protested the bus stop relocation to the GTC garage. But WCAA proceeded anyway, unfazed by their comments, the concerns of state officials, or federal ADA lawsuits by people with disabilities. As private operators of public bus transportation, our primary goal is to serve passengers in the most efficient manner possible. While you might expect the airport to share this goal, it has instead exhibited a history of apparent hostility toward public transportation, which seniors and people with disabilities disproportionately rely upon.To cite a Gordon Mackay Michigan Flyer CEO Ingham East Lansing MI 3/22/2016 2015 example—when the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan issued an RFP to develop an “Airport Express” shuttle service like ours for Detroit and the counties of Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe—WCAA insisted that bidders agree to the onerous terms of a newly drafted “Regular Intercity Bus Operator Permit.” This prevented Michigan Flyer and its parent company, Indian Trails, from participating. No other bus company submitted a bid, either.WCAA has since included some of that permit’s most objectionable provisions in its new ground transportation regulations. Without a marked change in attitude, DTW will continue to rank among large U.S. airports as one of the least accessible by public ground transportation.

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A resolution of the Council of the City of Berkley, Michigan for the Responsible Spending of Transportation Funds in Southeast Michigan R-06-16 Communities across the southeast Michigan face an acute shortage of transportation funds to repair existing streets and bridges, address safety needs, and provide the quality of life that attracts and retains residents and employers; and Within the City of Berkley, these needs specifically include the repair of existing roads; and The Michigan Department of Transportation has approved and intends to commence major highway reconstruction and capacity expansion projects on 1-75 in Oakland County and I-94 in Detroit, with expected costs that may exceed $4 billion dollars, Annette Boucher City of Berkley City Clerk Oakland Berkley MI 3/25/2016 including hundreds of millions for capacity expansion; and The 2040 Long-Range Plan states that transportation congestion in southeast Michigan is limited, that the region will not regain its 2000 population with the next 25 years, and that any increase in trafic levels will be modest; and Surveys performed by SEMCOG show that a majority of the region's residents do not support raising taxes for the purpose of expanding highway capacity; and The expansions threaten significant negative impacts to the communities they traverse, including displacement of residents, destruction of local tax base, loss of property value, increases in traffic noise, aggravated air pollution, and continued disinvestment;

and It has been known since at least 1962 that, on urban commuter expressways, peak-hour trafflc congestion rises to meet maximum capacity ("The Law of Peak Hour Expressway Congestion" by Anthony Downs, 1962). Simply adding capacity to existing roadways will not solve traffic congestion. This is widely known as "induced demand," where capacity additions induce more traffic to use the road; and Recent research finds that the quality of evidence linking highway capacity expansion to increased vehicle miles traveled is high, and that capacity expansion leads to a net increase in vehicle miles traveled and not just a shipng of vehicle Annette Boucher City of Berkley City Clerk Oakland Berkley MI 3/25/2016 miles traveled from one road to another. Further, most studies of the impact of capacity expansion on development in a metropolitan region find no net increase in employment or other economic actiuity ("increasing Highway Capacity Unlikely to Relieve Traffic Congestion" by Susan Handy, University of California, Davis 2015); and $4 billion would be far better spent addressing our region's desperate need for road and infrastructure repairs, and a comprehensive regional transit system to meet the needs of our residents, boost property values, increase access to employment and entertainment, and reduce our nearly mandatory and exclusive dependence on motor vehicles;

and Cities across the state are suffering consequences of decades of anti-urban policies, such as freeway expansions, which encourage sprawl while decreasing investment in the very population centers where the majority of residents live; and State law dictates that not only must cities and villages suffer the consequences of these policies, but in fact, must bear a portion of the cost of opening, widening, and improving state trunk line highways resulting in further deterioration of existing local infrastructure; and Michigan Senate bill SB 557, introduced by State Senator Knollenberg in October 2015, proposed to eliminate the requirement that Berkley residents' tax dollars be redirected to a project that Annette Boucher City of Berkley City Clerk Oakland Berkley MI 3/25/2016 h a m our community; and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The City Council of the City of Berkley opposes the inclusion of these highway capacity expansion projects in the 2040 Long-Range Plan; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: The City Council especially opposes the proposed Transportation Improvement Project amendments pertaining to the acceleration ofthe widening of 1-75 between Eight Mile / Road and M-59; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: The Berkley City Council requests that the funding currently programmed for these capacity expansion projects be redirected to other roadway projects, such as performing preventive maintenance and rehabilitating existing major roads, bridges and local streets;

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addressing critical safety needs; developing and implementing mass transit and a true regional multi-modal transportation system; and enhancing the overall quality of life through these measures; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Council of the City of Berkley supports the passage of SB 557 which, at the very least, would end the requirement that Berkley residents fund a project that will bring harm to our city; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: This Resolution shall be transmitted to SEMCOG and its Member Communities, the Michigan Municipal Annette Boucher City of Berkley City Clerk Oakland Berkley MI 3/25/2016 League, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Governor Rick Snyder, Representative Robert Wittenberg, and Senator Marty Knollenberg. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED: The City of Berkley hereby adopts this ResoIution requesting that the two expansion projects be excluded from the 2040 Long-Range Plan, and finding redirected towards other needs. Introduced and passed at a regular City Council meeting on Monday, March 21, 2016. AYES: Edgar, Kideckel, Steadman, Terbrack, Baker, Blanchard, and ODwyer. NAYS: None

The following is an excerpt from the Regular Meeting of the Madison Heights City Council, Madison Heights, Oakland County, Michigan held on March 28, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Present: Absent: Mayor Hartwell, Mayor Pro Tem Bliss, Councilrnembers Clark, Corbett, Gettings and Soltis. Councilwoman Scott. CM-16- 72. Resolution in Opposition to the 1-75 Widening b Expansion Project. RESOLUTION FOR RESPONSIBLE SPENDING OF TRANSPORATION FUNDS IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN WHEREAS, communities across the southeast Michigan Election & face an acute shortage of transportation funds to repair existing streets and City Of Communicat Madison bridges, address safety needs, and provide the quality of life that attracts and Romona Sanchez Madison Oakland MI 3/31/2016 ion Heights retains residents and employers; and WHEREAS, within the City of Madison Heights Coordinator Heights these needs specifically include the repair of existing I; roads; and WHEREAS, the Michigan Department of Transportation has approved and intends to commence major highway reconstruction and capacity expansion projects on 1- 75 in Oakland County and 1-94 in Detroit, with expected costs that may exceed $4 billion dollars, including hundreds of millions for capacity expansion; and WHEREAS, the 2040 Long-Range Plan states that traffic congestion in southeast Michigan is "limited," that the region will not regain its 2000 population with the next 25 years, and that any increase in traffic levels will be modest;

and WHEREAS, surveys performed by SEMCOG show that a majority of the region's residents do not support raising taxes for the purpose of expanding highway capacity; and WHEREAS, the expansions threaten significant negative impacts to the communities they traverse, including displacement of residents, destruction of local tax base, loss of property value, increases in traffic noise, aggravated air pollution, and continued disinvestment; WHEREAS, it has been well established that such road expansions provide only temporary relief, while exacerbating t r a c congestion in the long run; and WHEREAS, $4 billion would be Election & City Of far better spent addressing our region's desperate need for a comprehensive Communicat Madison Romona Sanchez Madison Oakland MI 3/31/2016 regional transit system to meet the needs of residents; and WHEREAS, cities ion Heights Heights across the state are suffering consequences of decades of anti-urban policies, such Coordinator as freeway expansions, which encourage sprawl while decreasing investment in the very population centers where the majority of residents live; and WHEREAS, state law dictates that not only must cities and villages suffer the consequences of these policies, but in fact, must bear a portion of the cost of opening, widening, and improving state trunk line highways resulting in further deterioration of existing local infrastructure; and WHEREAS, SB 557 introduced by State Senator Knollenberg proposed to eliminate the requirement that Madison Heights residents' tax dollars be redirected to a project that harms our community;

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and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council of the City of Madison Heights opposes the inclusion of these highway capacity expansion projects in the 2040 Long-Range Plan; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City Council especially opposes the proposed Transportation Improvement Project amendments pertaining to the acceleration of the widening of 1-75 between Eight Mile Road and M-59; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Madison Heights City Council Election & requests that the funding currently programmed for these capacity projects be City Of Communicat Madison redirected to other roadway projects, such as performing preventive maintenance Romona Sanchez Madison Oakland MI 3/31/2016 ion Heights and rehabilitating existing major roads, bridges and local streets; addressing Heights Coordinator critical safety needs; developing and implementing mass transit; and enhancing the overall quality of life through these measures; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Madison Heights will utilize all legal means at its disposal to prevent this expansion from taking place; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Madison Heights supports the passage of SB 557 which, at the very least, would end the requirement that Madison Heights residents fund a project that will bring harm to our city;

and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this Resolution shall be transmitted to SEMCOG and its Member Communities, the Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Governor Rick Snyder, and Representative Election & City Of James Townsend and Senator Marty Knollenberg. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, the Communicat Madison Romona Sanchez Madison Oakland MI 3/31/2016 City of Madison Heights hereby adopts this Resolution requesting that the two ion Heights Heights expansion projects be excluded from the 2040 Long-Range Plan, and funding Coordinator redirected towards other needs, until such time as their utility is re-examined in the light of current transportation and funding conditions. Yeas: Gettings, Soltis, Clark, Corbett, Hartwell Nays: Bliss Absent: Scott Motion Carried

Public comment for project #12534 - US-12 Where on US-12 is this happening? Detroit Executive How do I get a copy of the analysis showing how increasing these pedestrian walk Todd Scott Greenways Detroit MI 4/4/2016 Director times will meet the improve air quality? Does this mean those traffic stops will no Coalition longer automatically offer a walk signal every cycle?

Tennessee Advisory Subject: SEMCOG Website Hello! I really admire your website and dashboards. So Information Commission much information and so easy to use. I am really interested in how the website Mark Patterson System Nashville TN 4/20/2016 on was constructed and what software is involved. Thanks so much. Manager Intergovernme http://www.semcog.org/Data-and-Maps/Community-Profiles/Custom ntal Relations

OPPOSITION TO TAXING LOCAL GOVERNMENT/RESIDENTS FOR THE RTA MILLAGE Whereas; the Township of Addison (Township) opposes the RTA 1.2 mill, 20 year property tax increase to create a mass transit system that does not connect or benefit Addison Township. Whereas; the Township opposes the RTA Master Plan because it only benefits a few select communities in Oakland County; and Whereas; the Township opposes the RTA because the "authority" was created by the State Legislature without a vote of the people or vote of the local governments impacted and/or involved; and Whereas; the Township currently Addison operates jointly, with other cooperating communities, a transit system for its Pauline Bennett Clerk Oakland Leonard MI 6/27/2016 Township residents known as North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA); and Whereas; the Township is opposed to the RTA because impacted communities cannot opt out and, therefore, the Township may be taxed for two transportation authorities; and Whereas; the Township currently budgets $16,000 per year together with the 2016 taxable value collecting a millage of .25 for an estimated $82,270.38 for a total of an estimated $98,270.38 per year to fund the current NOTA transit system; and Whereas the Township based on 2016 taxable value at 1.2 mills, estimated tax is $394,897.81 per year or based 2016 taxable value, for a 20 year millage proposal, an estimated $7,897,940 to the RTA.

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The average home owner in Addison Township property tax increase estimated at the 2016 taxable value is $20 per year; and Whereas; the Township opposes the RTA based on the budgetary figures as the tax is an estimated 300% millage increase to the Township above NOTA's estimated millage to operate a system that does not provide local service; and Whereas; the Township encourages the use of the current transportation authority known as SMART or the DDOT buses for services the RTA proposes; and Whereas; the Township proposes that the RTA Addison Pauline Bennett Clerk Oakland Leonard MI 6/27/2016 fiscally improve the current transportation systems prior to initiating new or Township increased millages for a new system; or Whereas; the majority of Township residents mode of transportation will remain their individual cars along with the individual costs, including taxes, for our transportation; and Now therefore, be it resolved, that the Township passed the resolution in opposition to a County wide millage for RTA and directs the Clerk to forward a certified copy of this resolution to our elected County Representative, State Representatives, and the to Chair of the County's proposed in the RTA.

I appreciate the concern and focus on Michigan's lakes. It is an asset that must be protected at all costs. Michigan has lost much of it's ability to leverage our lakes for economic development due to privatization of our shorelines. The state's focus must be balanced including both economic development and public health. Please visit the shore of Lake St Clair along downtown New Baltimore and then along the Edsel Ford house. There is a discrepancy that must be resolved. I cannot bear to Alyson Burtle Citizen 7/5/2016 watch children swim in that water in New Baltimore. I don't recognize the color of the water. If there are issues with the water plant in New Baltimore, these issues need to be addressed. There are focused areas in our state that need resources. The root cause of less than desirable conditions must be identified with an appropriate action plan taken. Stop the sewage overflows. Unless we build the state from the ground up, any progress will be short lived. Clean water is our lifeline.

Resolution in Opposition of Veto of Senate Bill 557. WHEREAS, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) proposes to widen and improve I-75 from Hazel Park to Auburn Hills; and, WHEREAS, MDOT proposes to utilize the Public Act 51 road funding formula to require that Madison Heights pay an estimated local share of $4,025,000 for all three construction phases with $800,000 required in 2018, $425,000 in 2024, and $2,800,000 in 2026; and, WHEREAS, this local match would essentially eliminate the City’s ability to provide road maintenance City Of and reconstruction for more than two years; and, WHEREAS, the City has Madison Cheryl Printz Madison Clerk Oakland MI 7/29/2016 repeatedly voiced opposition to MDOT’s proposed change to the project phasing Heights Heights as well as the use of the Act 51 funding formula for road projects with regional, national, and even international significance and impact; and, WHEREAS, the City has cited the lack of any public or municipal notice or opportunity for input regarding the change in project phasing, the extensive and widespread impact on the City’s road network during construction with no compensation by MDOT, the recent I-75 service drive improvements made by the City (based in major part on the previous project schedule), and the complete loss of future tax revenue from at least 25 total property takings and 5 partial property takings;

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and, WHEREAS, by resolution on October 26, 2015, City Council indicated their support for Michigan Senate Bill 557, a bi-partisan bill introduced by Senator Knollenberg, which would eliminate Act 51 requirements for local share contributions on this and other MDOT Trunkline projects; and, WHEREAS, the City has provided supportive testimony to both the Senate and House Committees on Transportation, both of which unanimously recommended approval of the City Of legislation; and, WHEREAS, the Michigan Senate and House unanimously approved Madison Cheryl Printz Madison Clerk Oakland MI 7/29/2016 Senate Bill 557 on May 31, 2016, and June 9, 2016, respectively; and, WHEREAS, Heights Heights on July 1, 2016, while admitting that the Act 51 requirement for local cost sharing places a hardship on those communities required to use most, if not all, of their available local road funding for interstate highway projects, Governor Snyder vetoed Senate Bill 557. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of Madison Heights strongly objects to the Governor’s veto and urges a legislative override this year in order to alleviate the financial burden to local communities and restore some measure of equity to state highway funding in Michigan.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk provide a copy of this Resolution to U.S. Senators Stabenow and Peters, U.S. Representative Levin, Governor Snyder, State Representative Townsend, State Senator Knollenberg, State Senator Gregory, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, the Michigan Municipal City Of League and the following forty-four impacted Cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Madison Cheryl Printz Madison Clerk Oakland MI 7/29/2016 Warren, Sterling Heights, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Flint, Dearborn, Livonia, Westland, Heights Heights Troy, Farmington Hills, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, Southfield, Rochester Hills, Taylor, St. Clair Shores, Pontiac, Dearborn Heights, Royal Oak, Novi, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Kentwood, East Lansing, Roseville, Portage, Midland, Muskegon, Lincoln Park, Bay City, Jackson, Holland, Eastpointe, Port Huron, Southgate, Burton, Oak Park, Allen Park, Garden City, Mount Pleasant, Wyandotte, and Inkster.

I have made this suggestion previously, but given the opportunity for comment, I will make it again. If you want to significantly improve a daily rush hour traffic jam on one of our busy Detroit freeways, I strongly recommend that you re-engineer the Lodge Freeway / Davison Freeway interchange so that the Davision traffic from both east and westbound merge into a single, right side entrance ramp onto the southbound Lodge. If you look at the daily morning rush hour on the Lodge (which I have driven plenty during my thirty-three year career at WDIV), the Meteorologi Paul Gross WDIV - TV4 Wayne Detroit MI 8/19/2016 backup always starts at the Davison, and sometimes extends all the way back st between 7 and 8 Mile Roads. Once you’ve driven past the Davison, traffic flow picks right back up…every time. The reason for the backup is pretty clear to me: you have very slow entrance ramp traffic at the Davison entering the southbound Lodge from both the left and right lanes. There is much lighter traffic flow on the Davison than on the Lodge, so re-engineering the interchange so that the Davison traffic merges into a single entrance ramp on the right side of the Lodge won’t have a detrimental impact on Davison traffic onto the Lodge.

By contract, eliminating the left side entrance ramp onto the southbound Lodge at the Davison (and significantly lengthening the remaining right side entrance so traffic can accelerate closer to freeway speed) would significantly promote greater traffic flow through the interchange during the busy morning rush hour. I Meteorologi guarantee that this would result in MUCH less stop-and-go traffic on the Paul Gross WDIV - TV4 Wayne Detroit MI 8/19/2016 st southbound Lodge during the morning rush hour. This interchange was designed at a time when much less traffic used the Lodge, and needs to be updated to reflect current traffic volume. I have driven this freeway for over three decades now, and have looked at this problem through my eyes as a scientist. I hope this suggestion merits further consideration on your end.

Brownstown Brownstown RTA Funding Comment Would there be any "opt-out" possibilities for fringe area John Cronin Charter Trustee Wayne MI 8/22/2016 Twp communities? Township

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To whom it concerns, I apologize for the delayed correspondence on this matter, but if at all possible I humbly request your consideration of the following project to be added to the list of amendments to the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), if not already included: ------Expansion and connection of The Macomb Orchard Trail to the Bridge To Bay Trail The plan would be to expand the 24-Mile Long Macomb Orchard Trail from it's current endpoint in Richmond, southeasterly to New Baltimore's recently-revamped downtown and waterfront, which will soon Village of New Daniel VanDeKerkhove Trustee Macomb New Haven MI 9/22/2016 also be a host community of the Bridge To Bay Trail - a 54-mile bike trail all to itself Haven (Map, here). Two discussed possibilities for forming the connection were: 1. Extending the Macomb Orchard Trail easterly to County Line Road, then straight down to New Baltimore. 2. Extending the Macomb Orchard Trail southerly, either along Gratiot or otherwise through easements of wooded lots and flatlands through Lenox Twp and New Haven, then run along New Haven Rd. across I94 (alongside the current vehicular overpass) through Chesterfield Twp and ultimately connecting to New Baltimore's downtown.

One such proposal was pitched on Macomb County's recent 'Motorize Macomb' resident feedback site, and garnered quite a few 'stars' from viewers (similar to 'likes' on facebook). The idea has in one way or another been mentioned various times in different forms of literature, even including SEMCOG's own 2014 'Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel Plan for Southeast Michigan' (page 51, "County Line Road" Village of New Daniel VanDeKerkhove Trustee Macomb New Haven MI 9/22/2016 section) ------Though such a connection route is well-documented in various Haven SEMCOG documents and maps, and even in local municipality master plans, I do not see such project listed on the TIP. If I am overlooking documentation of such slated project, please point me in the right direction. Otherwise, please - if at all possible - help me to pass this along to the proper personnel for consideration to be incorporated in the amendments list being voted on this Friday.

Questions regarding the US-23 Corridor. Provided her with the explanation of the Mindy Vachow Citizen 9/30/2016 jurisdiction for the project and with the MDOT staff contact information for her to follow-up.

I actually learned about the 23 corridor project at the Lee Rd bridge meeting. I was told that the questions I had about the project M14 to M36 with a 5th lane expansion should be directed to semcog. Here are my questions: 1. Is a 5th lane for US23 planned and scheduled? 2. If so, can you tell me some information about that? 3. Is there Additional bridge information? 4. Plan for the Crossing Streets, N Mindy Vachow Citizen 10/3/2016 Territorial, Barker, 8 Mile and M36 5. Plan for M-36 to 96 6. Opportunity for input or informational meeting regarding what is currently planned 7. What is the projected plan for M36 to 96 8. I continue to hear funding is the issue of why it won't be tackled 9. Who decides on funding? 10. When will public meetings about this take place? Thanks for your time....If there is a document you can point me to that addresses all of these questions that would be great!

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My company recently moved to downtown Detroit. We are very happy to be a contributor to the rebirth of the Detroit city center. As we settle in, many of our employees are wondering about options for alternative transportation from the suburbs to downtown. With the construction planned for the I-75 corridor and I believe the resurfacing of Rochester Rd., many would love to see a commuter Director Of train option. Can you tell me what we as a group can do to encourage Amtrak to Technology put in place some commuter trains between Pontiac and downtown Detroit. I International Dea Crittenden And Detroit MI 10/11/2016 realize that Amtrak currently runs from Pontiac to Chicago and back twice daily, Bancard Developmen with stops in Detroit. The first morning train is quite early (leaving Pontiac at 5:50 t a.m.) and the second morning train (leaving Pontiac at 10:20 a.m.) is a bit late, if we could have a schedule or two added between the current first and second schedules in the morning and an earlier schedule from Detroit to Pontiac in the afternoon, I know my team would use this as a main form of transportation along with the new QLine. Any assistance you can offer to open or expand this conversation would be greatly appreciated.

Can you give me more details on the 2017-2020 Transportation Improvement Associated Corey Williams Reporter Wayne Detroit MI 11/21/2016 Program and 2040 Regional Transportation Plan amendments coming before Press SEMCOG’s executive committee next month?

Subject: Public comment for project #23332 - Sub-Project of 12806 Douglas MacArthur Bridge (2018) When doing a new road covering this year, it would be a great time to expand and increase safety for the bike lanes. They are very narrow Steve Innes Citizen 2/8/2017 and there is no protection from cars. There are 3 lanes leaving the island and only 2 on. One of the lanes can be used for safer bike traffic. Also, the crossover at the island side is dangerous. I can't believe there hasn't been an accident yet.

I am writing today to make a request that consideration be taken for bicycle lanes on MacArther Bridge in 2018 while other repairs and upgrades are made. Currently the bridge has 2 lanes Eastbound onto Belle Isle and 3 lanes Westbound towards Jefferson Ave. Having ridden my bicycle on and off the island, I know how it feels when cars try to pass you while staying in the lane, rather than slowing down till they can move over a lane to pass. It seems like a logical step, to remove Douglas Lapp Citizen 2/9/2017 one of the lanes Westbound toward Jefferson Ave. and create a protected (cement barrier or other form of separation ) lane, either one on each side for each direction, or one larger protected lane for multi direction bicycle traffic. Obviously the road is setup in a fashion that separate uni-directional lanes would make the most sense. Either way, I would like to see plans to facilitate a better environment for cyclists, walker, runners and alternative modes of transportation to and from Belle Isle.

Subject: Public comment for project #23332 - Sub-Project of 12806 Douglas MacArthur Bridge (2018) This project should improve the current bike lanes on the bridge. They are too narrow and are unprotected from the vehicle lanes. They do Detroit not meet the city of Detroit's minimum standards. They also collect debris which Executive Todd Scott Greenways Wayne Detroit MI 2/9/2017 effectively narrows them. One outbound lane could be removed to provide the Director Coalition necessary extra width for bicycles. Bicycle improvements are also called for between Jefferson and the bridge. The curb-to-curb bike lane transitions on the island should also be addressed to improve their safety. Permanent in-ground bicycle and pedestrian counters should also be installed as part of this project.

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As an avid cyclist in the city of Detroit, I am writing today to share my thoughts about the renovations that will take place in 2018 at the Douglas MacArthur Bridge. Quite simply, riding my bike from Jefferson to Belle Isle is the most unsafe I feel riding in Detroit. Vehicles routinely drive in the existing bike lanes, which are often filled with glass. There are 5 lanes of traffic. Please consider removing one Jeff Spakowski Citizen 2/9/2017 vehicle lane and using the recovered space as protected bike lanes. With the launch in the spring of 2017 of Detroit's first bike share program, more and more visitors to Detroit will want to visit Belle Isle via bicycle. Thank you for reading and considering adding bike lanes along the bridge to reflect all the protected bikes lanes going in throughout the city we all love.

As a Detroit resident who uses my bicycle for transportation, I would like to add my voice to those advocating for BUFFERED bike lanes on the MacArthur Bridge. Cars drive much too fast on the bridge and the current bike lanes do not leave any room for error. I worry about families with children trying to cycle to Belle Isle Maria Urquidi Citizen Wayne Detroit Michigan 2/10/2017 across the bridge as well as inexperienced cyclists who have rented a bike to explore the park. Unprotected bike lanes are an idea whose time has passed; please follow current practices and protect the growing number of people in Detroit who ride bicycles for fun, exercise, transportation or out of necessity.

The SEMCOG Work Program Summary appears to spread resources too thin. Too much money is allocated on policies, procedures, research, analysis, data collection, surveys, and planning without funding to implement any plans. Any citizen can tell you what roads need repair, where the congestion is. It is obvious the weight limits on trucks is a contributing factor to the disrepair of our pavement. A system should be in place to monitor and replace the sewer system ensuring no overflows of sewage to the lakes to keep our waterways clean. The Alyson Byrtle Citizen 3/2/2017 metropolitan area should be designed to allow citizens to function as independently as possible without barriers. The RTA does not need to function independently of local transit operations. Their role should be coordination of transit authorities so as not to create another underfunded entity. People need sidewalks connecting communities; and timely, coordinated bus service which runs frequently enough in close proximity to neighborhoods (within a mile minimum) to be a reasonable alternative to automobile transportation.

Freeways need to be widened and additional lanes need to be added to certain off ramps to reduce congestion. Environmental quality will not be improved without litter management or our roadways will be nothing but landfills. Keep it simple and safe. Repair, maintain, clean, and improve what you have first. Limited resources do not need to be spread so thin so that nothing of any significance gets Alyson Byrtle Citizen 3/2/2017 done. Alyson Burtle Roseville MI P.S. An attempt to manage traffic by managing traffic lights is causing drivers to spend more time at lights, stopping for lights, using more gas which is reducing efficiency and air quality. Timing of lights was more efficient. Pedestrian crosswalk buttons are only useful for locations where the intersection has turn arrows. Please choose wisely where and how tax dollars are spent.

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Subject: Environment Public Comment Hello, In a few months billions of seeds will fall from the trees. Over the last 5 years I have collected some seeds and have been growing trees in my yard that I replant on city property. With the help of a few organizations children should be encouraged to collect seeds and grow trees. Some they could sell as fund raisers for the schools and others plant at designated places in the city that would help the environment and reduce maintenance cost to local cities by not having to pay some one to cut the weeds Years ago I went to Gary Kujat Citizen 3/16/2017 the local MDOT office in Taylor to inquire if there was an adopt a landscape program. They have an adopt a highway program to pick up trash which they will erect a sign of the organization or group if 2 or more miles are adopted. At the time there was no adopt a landscape program so I asked if the idea could be passed on to Lansing. About 6 months later MDOT implemented the Adopt a Landscape program which can be found at their web site. Perhaps you would have an easier time convincing a business to adopt 2 or more miles of highway such as the first 2 mile of I-75 at the Ohio border

Hello SEMCOG: Thank you for sending the invitation to comment. I must say, the process feels daunting and might be more welcomed by the public if it was broken down into smaller pieces. "2017 Spring Amendment - 26 additions, 10 deletions, 28 cost modifications and free changes in project scope." This is not only a lot to review, but when I clicked on your link, it opens a spreadsheet that lacks an index or summary, any explanation, and the typeface is blurry to the point of being worthless. Please fix it. Here's my overarching comments about roads in Michigan: David Gordon Citizen AA 4/3/2017 1. Don't build another foot of roads until you've got enough money in the budget to maintain what we've got. 2. Allow congestion to constrict sprawl. When congestion gets sufficiently bad, look to public transportation alternatives. People will choose their cars over public transportation until it's overwhelmingly inconvenient to use your car. 3. Please disabuse yourself of the bias that growth is the answer to the challenges of the people of Michigan, human beings in general, or the planet. I look forward to an updated invite with links to something useful. Thank you.

Subject: Wayne County Bridge from Trenton to Grosse Ile information Mr. Palombo, You may not be the right official at SEMCOG to contact, but I know you've had long and distinguished career at SEMCOG in transportation planning, so I though you could route me to the right person. I am interested in finding out information about a proposed Wayne County study of the replacement of the Wayne County Bridge over the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River between Trenton and Grosse Ile. I am a member of an informal group of long-time residents Director Of of Grosse Ile who are very concerned about the condition of the Wayne County Grosse Ile Community Bridge. I am doing research about federal funding that may be available for work Greg Karmazin Bridge And Wayne Grosse Ile MI 6/19/2017 on the bridge. Attached is a letter that Wayne County sent to SEMCOG in 2009 to Company Government have the replacement study project included in the Transportation Improvement Relations Program (TIP). The study project was to be mainly funded by a $3.2 million earmark secured by Congressman John Conyers in the 2005 Highway Bill (see attached project # 2963 in SAFETEA-LU). This study was included in SEMCOG's TIP (attached) for a number of years although it was never started. I would like to talk to the appropriate official at SEMCOG to learn more information about the background on this proposed replacement study project as well as the current status of Congressman Conyer's earmark. Thank you for your attention to this request. I can be reached by e-mail or phone at (313) 510-1188.

Joel Batterman Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Value of regional transit; need to place regional transit on the ballot in 2018.

Martin Baum Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Put RTA on 2018 ballot.

David Calton Citizen Oakland Southfield MI 6/22/2017 Coordination of departments - engineering

Page 38 of 43 2045 Regional Transportation Plan Public Comments Received As of October 2017

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Mason Herson-Hord Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Support regional transit, RTA proposal on the ballot in 2018.

Derek Hollaway Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Public transit.

Renard Monczunski Citizen Wayne Lincoln Park MI 6/22/2017 Woodward bus service in downtown Detroit.

Idrees Mutahr Citizen Wayne Dearborn MI 6/22/2017 Regional transit proposal 2018.

Claire Nowak-Boyd Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Transit is economically vital for our region!

I would like to see the RTA proposal for expanding public transit in metro Detroit Grosse Pointe Matt Rich Citizen Wayne MI 6/22/2017 back on the ballot in 2018. I would like to see it promoted better than the last Park election, with more time given to promote the proposal.

Syri Simpson Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Connection of DDOT to region

Larry Verse Citizen Wayne Detroit MI 6/22/2017 Public transportation.

Thomas Zerafa TRU-MOSES Oakland Oak Park MI 6/22/2017 Why our region needs to revisit a ballot plan for 2018.

FYI: the recent Transportation Plan survey was the most confusing survey I have Government had to complete. Twice I tried to respond but could not get the survey to respond. Buzz Brown Munetrix IT And Fiscal Oakland Auburn Hills MI 7/6/2017 What was most discouraging is the last screen would not allow me to enter a Efficiencies comment; therefore this email was sent.

Workforce Director Of I was just engaging in a discussion about the RTP survey. Nice user interface! David Palmer Intelligence Business Wayne Detroit MI 7/6/2017 Would it be possible to also have the survey tool be made available in Arabic? Network Partnerships

Subject: Transportation/Transit When are we going to get something on the ground? I grew up in Detroit and later Dearborn. We could go all over Detroit and the suburbs by street car or bus. We are the only big city that has practically no Robert Shoens Citizen Northville MI 8/9/2017 transportation. There are jobs available that people can't get to because of no transportation. In fact this Country is behind the rest of the world when it comes to transportation.

RTP Public Comment I have read the draft of your comprehensive public transit plan for the SEMCOG region. It looks to be very practical and pragmatic for the urban areas of the region. The use of Bus Rapid along the major business corridors and routes to and from major places of employment and commerce is a positive for reducing commuter automobile traffic, congestion, accidents and GHG emissions. It also increases pedestrian and bicycle safety. Although I am a community planner and developer by trade, I have not done much transportation or large city urban development planning. Most of my work has been in rural regions and small towns. I do not see much in your plan that enables rural Alan Connor Citizen Ann Arbor MI 8/11/2017 residents to get to urban located employment, stores and services. I know you cannot have bus service on every back road. And automobile density and tail pipe emissions are not much of a problem in rural areas. I wonder, though, if it would be possible and logical to locate park and ride places along bus lines in less urban locations and at commuter rail stations that would be convenient for rural residents. Not all rural residents are farmers. But farmers need to get to the city occasionally. The bicycle and pedestrian rights of way and the border to border trail are also positives for safety, health and enjoyment of nature. Just my off the cuff thoughts for whatever they are worth.

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Please accept this email as feedback regarding Michigan's 2040 regional transportation plan. I travel a lot and it always saddens me to see how poor Michigan compares to other cities and countries around the world. From road quality and conditions to mass transit options, it's obvious we are behind. I am in my 40s and can only hope that I live to see real investments in mass transit for our region. I am writing to share my thoughts and to let you know my values and what I would like to see and would support for Michigan's future. Things like high speed buses or light rail that are user friendly and dependable would lighten the traffic Novi Parks Executive problems and offer commuters time to use their mobile devices safely. The Erika Pratt Oakland Novi MI 9/6/2017 Foundation Director amount of fender benders that come from distracted drivers increases every year and I see them daily on my commute from Novi to Ann Arbor. I only wish I had realistic mass transit options for my daily commute. I would gladly trade that time to get other things done rather than sit in traffic back ups. I love the increase interest in bike paths but we need to make a real commitment to safe bike routes. Please would someone from this board go visit a place like Amsterdam to see how a biking city works and get inspired to change our roads (and thinking) to include this active way of commuting. We waste our money along highway paths (thinking of 275).

I can't think of a bigger waste of of time and money than creating bike paths in areas that no one is biking. We need protected bike lanes or lanes painted different colors and things like bike lights for this to be a serious option in our city centers. If funding is the obstacle, then we need to create a citizens-bike-lane- creators-task-force (or something) to get volunteers out to transform our city centers to include visible bike lanes. Is there anyone willing to support a high speed rail line from Detroit to Traverse City? Or Detroit to Grand Rapids and the Novi Parks Executive Erika Pratt Oakland Novi MI 9/6/2017 west side? We could change our entire state and be a destination that attracts Foundation Director young professionals who desire to live in areas with these transportation amenities. Road construction. There have got to be better materials to hold up to our winters. If Canada and every northern European country can do it, so can we. We are either getting screwed by the companies who have a lock on construction or we are purposely using short term materials. It's shameful the condition of our roads and the amount of money we spend for the years they last. Someone needs to be a leader and make significant changes to these contracts.

It's all about money but government can and should direct what we will pay for. Hire young, smart, creative people to study, travel and learn about road materials that are working better than what we have settled for here in Michigan. Michigan needs a brave, new vision for our transportation system if we are to think we will Novi Parks Executive be a state or region that attracts today's young professionals. I would love to be Erika Pratt Oakland Novi MI 9/6/2017 Foundation Director able to commute to work and make better use of that time instead of having to pay attention and drive. Mass transit is still the most effective way to improve the regions transportation. Not everyone is interested in giving up their car, but there are a lot of us who would LOVE to see commuting options that would only lessen the traffic for everyone else. Thank you for reading this. Erika Novi

Comment for the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan: As a resident of Macomb County, where transportation needs are distinct from Oakland and Wayne County, the caller was against Macomb County's participation in and contribution to a regional transit system. Caller was against the November 2016 Regional Transit Gloria Heller 9/15/2017 Authority vote for to raise local revenues for transit and against any future requests for raising local revenues for regional transit funding. In addition the caller indicated that buses were not safe to travel on, spread disease, and contribute to street drug distribution.

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I have made this suggestion several times over the years, but there is one project not being considered that would have a noticeable impact on improving traffic flow for a very obvious morning rush hour trouble spot: the M-10 (Lodge) Freeway / Davison interchange. If you monitor morning rush hour traffic on southbound M- 10, every single day you’ll find a significant backup starting at the Davison and Meteorologi normally extending all the way up to 7 Mile…sometimes even farther north than Paul Gross WDIV - TV4 Wayne Detroit MI 10/27/2017 st that. The reason is so simple that I’m surprised nobody else has discussed this: the Davison Freeway enters the Lodge Freeway with entrance ramps and slow traffic on both sides of the freeway. So, you have traffic rapidly slowing in both the right and left lanes, with the center lane slow because everybody is trying to get out of those two curb lanes. Every single day you see the traffic quickly ramp up back to normal freeway speeds just south of the Davison.

There is no question that the daily morning back-up is being caused by the interchange design. I’ve driven the Lodge for over thirty-five years now, so I know this firsthand. If the interchange were redesigned so that Davison traffic entering the southbound Lodge FIRST merged onto a single right lane entrance ramp, you would significantly improve one of our area’s most dependable morning rush hour Meteorologi Paul Gross WDIV - TV4 Wayne Detroit MI 10/27/2017 slow-downs. Traffic was so much lighter when this interchange was designed st decades ago…I’m sure the interchange would have been designed differently if the engineers back then knew the amount of traffic the Lodge handles today. Clearly, the current heavy traffic volume will not diminish in the decades ahead. If promoting better traffic flow is any part of your long term goals, then you would consider this idea.

Why aren't roads being closed? E.g. I-375 in Detroit. Too many roads for Kathy Stroud Citizen Washtenaw Ann Arbor MI 9/12/2017 population. Walking and biking are different.

My name is Monica Trojniak. I have lived in the area of Gratiot and 12 Mile Road for more than 25 years. Because I am not able to drive, the public bus system along the Gratiot Corridor has been my major form of transportation for years. I would like to comment today about public transit in Macomb County as it relates to the transportation system in Wayne County. Specifically regarding the lack of coordination between the two bus systems of SMART and DDOT. In 1967, SEMPTA was established to govern the bus providers of Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland Counties. During the next 40 years, many studies were conducted and goals set Monica Trojniak Citizen Macomb Mt. Clemens MI 9/14/2017 regarding establishing a constructive relationship between the public transportation systems of Macomb adn Wayne Counties. These goals havenever truly been achieved. In fact, it appears to me, that for the past number of years, the coordination of services between SMART and DDOT has actually been declining. This has resulted in the reduction in the quality of public transit in Macomb County. One current example of the poor relationship between the two bus systems is that the majority of buses, which run on the Gratiot Corridor nw stop at 8 Mile Road along with a confusing change in fair.

As you know, efficient and effective transportation is curcial for accessing healthcare, finding and maintaining a job, and participating in education. Many residents of Macomb County, such as myself, rely on public transportation to participate in basic activities. I understand that there have been many reasons for a poor relationship between SMART and DDOT including logistics, funding, and politics. However I believe those hurdles can be overcome in the future with Monica Trojniak Citizen Macomb Mt. Clemens MI 9/14/2017 assistance and guidance of SEMCOG. I am asking that the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments review the degree of inefficient and ineffective coordination between SMART and DDOT. I believe that only an immediate and long-lasting plan to improve the relationship between the two systems will improve public transportation in Macomb County for many years to come. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the future transportation plan in Macomb County.

Pete Sutliff Citizen Macomb Warren MI 9/14/2017 The need for political will to establish mass transit.

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Hedi Kaufman Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 Interesting meeting - I like the open forum. I'd like to hear others comments.

CAV (Connected and Automated Vehicles) Leadership, Partnerships, Safety, etc. Royce Maniko Citizen Monroe Temperance MI 9/18/2017 Excellent road funding story board. Need for infrastructure funding. Age/Demographics story board excellent.

SEMCOG transportation plan must conform with I-75 upgrade in Monroe County. Mitigation of natural resources must be taken in consideration. I-75 Mitigation Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 Study and project funding has already taken place and should be incorporated into SEMCOG plan. The Port of Monroe provides reliable and efficient movement of goods, but is not an "official" port recognized by Customs or Homeland Security.

Port of Monroe: Needs to be upgraded to "port" status for Customs, Border Patrol, and Homeland Security purposes. Now the Port of Monroe is a "bulk cargo" port (facility) on a federal navigation channel with 21 feet of draft - handling 2.5 million tons of cargo annually. Some freight is being directed to Monroe Harbor Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 but it could handle more freight if allowed to do so. The commodity being shipped currently is artificial gypsum, a by-product of the Monroe Power Plant that burns coal with limestone to reduce toxic emissions, creating the gypsum by-product. Monroe Harbor handles containers at a competitive rate (9-10 per hour). Has taken shipments from Europe for a new boardplant in Grayling, MI.

I-75 bridge over River Raisin has to be upgraded to handle heavy loads. Currently heavy loads are re-routed through Monroe on US-24/Telegraph and M- 125/Monroe Street. Mitigation of road work to restore wetlands is imperitive. I-75 Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 destroyed hundreds of acres of scarce wetlands in Monroe. This needs to be corrected. Borrow pits and roadside ditches need to be managed for environmental concerns. Better management of barrow pits is essential. Incorporate them into the nearest wildlife refuge system.

Roads should serve the network of physical attraction in SE Michigan/NW Ohio. National Museum of the Great Lakes - Toledo. Erie State Game Area/Erie Marsh - Nature Conservancy. River Raisin National Battlefield Park - Monroe. Pointe Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 Mauellie State Game Area. Lake Erie Metropark - HCMA. Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center - Trenton. The Henry Ford - Dearborn. Fort Meigs - Perrysburg, OH. Put on Bay - Port Clinton, OH. Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Proposed roundabouts at Exit 13 on I-75 (Port of Monroe). Bad idea. This is heavy Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 industrial with energy turbine towers being manufactured in Monroe Harbor. These towers cannot navigate roundabouts. Serious problem.

Bike/Hike Trails: Neet to connect Downriver Greenways Trail with Toledo Metro area trails. The Iron Belle Trail already connects to Trenton, MI and trails are under construction to complete this trail to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge south of Trenton. The City of Gibralter already has a trail to the refuge. Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 This should be accessible to the I-275 trail and the North Country National Scenic Trail (NPS). Thsi would provide hundreds of miles of trails in SE Michigan including the trail that connects the River Raisin National Battlefield Park with Sterling State Park.

Raisin Point: Mitigation of the I-75 corridor should include restoration of the Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 Monroe Marshes on Raisin Point.

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Points of interest along highways neet to be illustrated better. Change course of Lake Erie Circle Tour at Exit 15 of I-75. The Lake Erie Circle Tour should go Ne on N. Dixie Highway then along the U.S. Turnpike in Berlin Twp to W. Jefferson in Brownstown Twp. on to Trenton to Biddle Ave. in Wyandotte, MI and on to Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 Ecorse, River Rouge and Fort Wayne. Tie in with the new bridge to Canada at Springwells. Currently, the Lake Erie Circle Tour does not follow the Lake. It goes away from the Lake to Detroit. All of the saught after attractions are on I-75, Exit 2 to I-75, Exit 15. then on to the route descibed above. This re-alignment is critical for the attractions located on this route.

Monroe County Trail Link: Wayne County, MI and Lucas County, OH have vast metroparks that are linked. If trails were arrainged through Monroe County, you would have the largest Metropark system in the world. TMACOG and SEMCOG should do a study to see houw Monroe County can be situated to connect HCMA Richard Micka Citizen Monroe Monroe MI 9/18/2017 (SE Michigan) and Toledo Metroparks (NW Ohio). Connect the natrual features of SE Michigan Woodtick Penninsula (Erie State Game Area), Luna Pier, Toledo Beach, River Raisin, National Battlefield Park, Sterling State Park, Point Manillee State Game Area, Lake Erie Metropark, Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

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