TRAVERSE CITY AREA TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE STUDY (TC-TALUS) Public Review Draft 2035 LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN TRAVERSE CITY AREA TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE STUDY (TC-TALUS) Public Review Draft 2035 LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN Prepared by: TC – TALUS Northwest Michigan Council of Governments P.O. Box 506 Traverse City, Michigan 49686 231.929.5000 www.nwm.cog . Public Review Draft Long Range Transportation Plan - Executive Summary August, 2014 August 1, 2014 The Grand Traverse Bay region is blessed with natural beauty, abundant water resources, vibrant communities and a talented and motivated population living, working and playing in a beautiful area. The natural beauty, abundant lakes and streams, and vibrant communities present challenges to mobility in the region. These include: most east/west traffic is constrained by just five blocks between Grand Traverse Bay and the north end of Boardman Lake, motorists west of Silver Lake must travel to Chum’s Corners to the south or Silver Lake/South Airport Roads to the north, vibrant neighborhoods south of downtown Traverse City handle traffic in the grid system but there is concern about increasing traffic, particularly on Cass and Union Streets, the primary streets in the area, and Grand Traverse Commons to the west and the Nature Education Reserve to the south are significant natural areas and as such there is concern of increasing traffic through these areas. An aerial Google Earth view of the region visually showing these four challenges follows this Executive Summary Housing and weather are other challenges. The lowest cost housing is generally located further from the primary center of commerce and employment in Traverse City. This increases traffic volumes and costs for lower income workers which represent the largest percentage of the workforce. Northern Michigan winters provide wonderful opportunities for recreation and tourism however they present challenges for both street design and maintenance as well as limiting non-motorized transportation for many users. The document includes short and long term projects which can be accommodated financially within the expected revenues over the life of the plan, which is a requirement of the Federal SAFETEA-TU legislation. The transportation needs of the Grand Traverse Bay region, however, far exceed the anticipated revenues available under present legislation. Incremental Federal and State special appropriations, grants and additional local funding have to be pursued to fund key projects essential for the growing region. These key projects are: South Airport Road extension between Three Mile Road and Five Mile Road. Hammond-Hartman connection and continuation to Silver Lake Road. South Airport Road controlled access reconfiguration between Garfield and Cass Roads, including a new bridge over the Boardman River. Beitner/Keystone Road widening from Chum’s Corners to Hammond Road, including a long bridge over the railroad tracks, a creek and the Boardman River. Eighth Street Road diet (4 to 3 lanes) between Boardman Avenue and Woodmere Avenue. Garfield Road diet (4 to 3 lanes) between Boon Street and Eighth Street. Other transportation projects examined during the Grand Vision process can be found in the Grand Vision Task 5.1 report located at: http://www.nwm.org/userfiles/filemanager/1133/ Public Review Draft Long Range Transportation Plan - Executive Summary August, 2014 August 1, 2014 TC – TALUS Board of Directors Sponsoring Agency Representative Traverse City Jim Carruthers Garfield Twp. Chuck Korn Elmwood Twp. Jack Kelly Acme Twp. Jay Zollinger East Bay Twp. Glen Lile Long Lake Twp. Leslie Sickterman Peninsula Twp. Penny Rosi G.T. County Herb Lemcool Leelanau Road Comm. Lee Bowen G.T. Road Comm. Jim Cook MDOT-Planning John Lanum MDOT-TCTSC Rise Rasch Cherry Capital Airport Dan Sal Chamber of Commerce Tonya Wildfong G.T. County Planning Jeff Cockfield BATA Tom Menzel TART Julie Clark TCAPS Paul Soma NMC Vicki Cook Grand Traverse Band Open Citizen-at-large John Nelson Citizen-at-large Craig Wells TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 SAFETEA-LU Objectives ...................................................................................... 2 TC-TALUS ............................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 2: Long Range Transportation Planning Process ........................................... 4 Chapter 3: Goals and Objectives .................................................................................. 5 Chapter 4: Public Participation Process ........................................................................ 8 Chapter 5: Community Description/Socio Economic Projections .................................. 9 Community Transportation and Land Use ............................................................ 9 Socio-Economic Projections ............................................................................... 21 Chapter 6: Travel Forecasting Model ......................................................................... 24 Chapter 7: Roads and Highways ................................................................................ 25 Existing System .................................................................................................. 25 Forecasted Demands ......................................................................................... 33 Future Road System ........................................................................................... 35 Recommended Elements and Strategies ........................................................... 37 Chapter 8: Transit ....................................................................................................... 39 Existing Transit System ...................................................................................... 39 Forecasted Demands and Issues ....................................................................... 41 Future Transit System ........................................................................................ 42 Recommended Elements and Strategies ........................................................... 44 Chapter 9: Non-Motorized Transportation .................................................................. 45 Existing Non-Motorized System .......................................................................... 45 Future Non-Motorized System ............................................................................ 49 Recommended Elements and Strategies ........................................................... 52 Chapter 10: Freight/Air/Rail/Water Transportation ...................................................... 53 Existing Freight/Air/Rail/Water System ............................................................... 53 Future Freight/Air/Rail/Water System ................................................................. 56 Recommended Elements and Strategies ........................................................... 57 Chapter 11: Financing ................................................................................................ 59 Rural Task Force ................................................................................................ 59 Small Urban Program ......................................................................................... 60 Chapter 12: Environmental Justice/Social Equity ....................................................... 60 Chapter 13: Transportation Improvement Plan – Project List ..................................... 63 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... Appendix A ..................................................................................................... 1 - 13 Previous Transportation Planning ......................................................................... 1 Appendix B .................................................................................................... 1 - 2 Appendix C ................................................................................................... 1 - 14 Financial Plan - Background .......................................................................... 1 Financial Plan – Potential Revenue Source .................................................. 5 Revenue Forecast Development ................................................................... 5 Road Revenue Projections ............................................................................ 8 Operations and Maintenance....................................................................... 12 Financial Constraint ..................................................................................... 13 Appendix D ...................................................................................................... 1 - 9 Maps ......................................................................................................... 5 - 9 Appendix E Travel Demand Modeling location Maps.................................... 1 - 6 Public Review Draft August 1, 2014 Long Range Transportation Plan TCTALUS August 2014 Chapter 1: Introduction This Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) is the first prepared by TC TALUS under the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). SAFETEA-LU was enacted in