New Video Explains Mackinac Bridge Walk Changes

A press release from the Michigan Department of Transportation explains some major changes happening to the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk, and the new options walkers will have.

CONTACT: Bob Sweeney, Mackinac Bridge Authority, 906-643-7600

May 30, 2018 -- The 2018 Annual Bridge Walk will be on Labor Day, as in past years. Beyond that, many of the other details have changed, prompting the Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) to post a video explaining the procedures and options for this year's event.

The video, posted on the MBA website at www.mackinacbridge.org/annual-bridge-walk-2/, explains how the walk has changed, including the elimination of busing and starting the walk from either St. Ignace or Mackinaw City.

"The decision in 2017 to close the bridge to public traffic during the walk for participant safety represented one of the biggest changes to the event in decades," said Bob Sweeney, executive secretary of the MBA. "The feared traffic backups did not materialize, but the issue of needing to turn people away last year prompted us to make more changes to increase opportunities for participation this year."

In 2017, despite having secured 50 percent more buses to transport walkers to the starting point, many people were not able to board them in time to participate in the walk and were turned away. By eliminating busing and instead allowing people to start from either end of the bridge up until 11:30 a.m., more people should be able to participate.

"The biggest complaint we heard about last year's event was that so many people were unable to walk," Sweeney said. "This plan cuts the significant cost and logistical problem of operating the buses, but also makes it easier for the largest number of people to participate."

               Walkers essentially have three main options, outlined in the video:

• Starting from either end of the bridge and walking toward the center, turning around at the midpoint and returning to the city they started from, where their transportation located. The turnaround points will move toward the ends of the bridge beginning at 10 a.m., but walkers can walk at least a portion of the bridge as long as they start by 11:30 a.m.

• Walking the entire length of the bridge, starting from either end. Those who choose this option must reach the midpoint before 10 a.m., or they will be turned back. Anyone who walks the entire bridge must arrange their own transportation back to the side they started once the bridge reopens to public traffic at noon.

• Crossing the bridge, starting from either end, and then turning around and walking back to the side they started from. In this option, walkers will need to cross the midpoint on their return trip by 10 a.m. or they will be turned back and need to find their own transportation back across the bridge after it reopens at noon.

  The bridge will again be closed to public traffic during the 2018 walk, from 6:30 a.m. to noon on Labor Day, Sept. 3., based on recommendations from the Michigan State Police and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Emergency vehicles will still be permitted to cross the bridge, but no public vehicles until the walk concludes and participants are off the bridge.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Performance Measure Repealed by Federal Highway Administration

On May 22, 2018, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) signed a final rule repealing the performance management measure in 23 CFR 490.507(b) that assessed the percent change in tailpipe carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, from the reference year 2017, on the National Highway System (NHS) (also referred to as the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) measure). The GHG measure was one of several performance measures that FHWA required State departments of transportation (State DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to use to assess performance in a variety of areas.

By repealing the GHG measure, FHWA will no longer require State DOTs and MPOs to undertake administrative activities to establish targets, calculate their progress toward their selected targets, report to FHWA, and determine a plan of action to make progress toward their selected targets if they failed to make significant progress during a performance period. (See 23 CFR 490.105, 107, 109.)

The GHG Final Rule is available here.

U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2017 Subcounty Population Estimates

Eric Guthrie, Michigan's State Demographer has issued the U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 subcounty population estimates, and the news for the MATS area is mixed, population-wise. The data indicates that while there was a slight increase in the population of the urban area over the time period from 2010 to 2017, this was more than offset by a decline in the population of the rural portions of Midland County. The good news however, is that the change in both directions was extremely small, on the order of 1.2 percent or less.  The summary document can be found here, or you can visit https://michigan.gov/census for more information.

Gypsy Moth Spraying to Begin in Midland County

The Midland County Gypsy Moth Suppression Program will be conducting aerial spraying of B.t. in select areas of the County and City beginning Tuesday, May 29, 2018. The treatment may take 1-3 days, weather permitting.  The spray will be applied by a small white and yellow helicopter with tail number: N38110.  Midland County residents can view the aerial spray map on the County website at: https://www.co.midland.mi.us/GypsyMoth.aspx and follow the prompts for Aqquatic Consulting Services or go directly to the ACS Gyspy Moth webpage at: https://www.aquaticremedies.com/current-season-spray-map. The Gypsy Moth Program will be applying liquid Foray76B B.t.k. (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) to forested areas by helicopter between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and dusk, as weather permits. The material used in this program is a naturally-occurring soil bacterium which is toxic to gypsy moths but nontoxic for humans, pets and other life forms.

Residents with questions about the program can be directed to the Gypsy Moth Program office at (989) 689-0223.  

MATS Planning Area Re-designated by Governor Snyder

Midland, MI - Governor Rick Snyder has officially re-designated the Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA) of the Midland Area Transportation Study and the adjoining Saginaw Metropolitan Area Transportation Study to eliminate a previously existing boundary overlap.

The overlap in the planning area had caused difficulty for MATS in gathering and reporting data, as well as creating an inconsistency with the Midland Urbanized Area (UZA) boundary, which the MPA boundary is required by Federal regulations to completely encompass.

According to MATS Director Maja Bolanowska, "it will now be possible to present and analyze a great deal of data more consistently year after year, which will benefit transportation project selection and public understanding".  The change in area will now better reflect the intent of the Federal Highway Administration regulations covering Metropolitan Planning Organizations as well.

If you have questions or comments regarding this or any issue, please contact MATS at info@midlandmpo.com or (989) 832-6333. For additional information, please visit www.midlandmpo.org.

About the Midland Area Transportation Study: MATS is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Midland Area, established in January 2013. MATS focuses on regional transportation planning services and helps to create intergovernmental cooperation. MATS is a policy-making agency, developing transportation plans and programming Federal-aid projects while providing public outreach regarding transportation issues.

Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council Releases Annual Road & Bridge Report

MAY 2, 2018

CONTACTS:

Joanna I. Johnson, TAMC Chair 269-381-3170 ext. 220 jjohnson@kalamazoocountyroads.com

Gloria Strong, MDOT analyst 517-373-2250 strongg@michigan.gov

May 2, 2018 – Today, the Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) delivered the Michigan 2017 Roads and Bridges Annual Report to the Michigan Legislature and the State Transportation Commission. Michigan Law, MCL 247.659a(9), requires TAMC to file an annual report with the Legislature and State Transportation Commission by May 2 of each year. The report summarizes road and bridge conditions and provides condition projections into the future. The report also provides a synopsis of TAMC program activities and events over the past year.

During 2017, the TAMC rated the pavement condition of the paved federal-aid eligible roads for the fourteenth consecutive year. This data collection included 63% of some 88,000 lane miles of paved roads in Michigan, including State Freeways and Highways, City Major Streets and County Primary Roads. This effort was achieved through a cooperative effort of individuals from county road agencies, city and village engineering staffs, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), regional planning agencies, and metropolitan planning organizations. In addition, the TAMC also collected pavement conditions on some of Michigan’s paved non-federal aid eligible roads as well.

In terms of surface condition, the report reveals continued deterioration of Michigan’s federal aid eligible roads. The 2017 condition data indicates 20% of these roads are in good condition, 40% are in fair condition, and 40% are in poor condition; in 2016, the breakdown was 18% good, 43% fair, and 39% poor. The report further indicates that while the condition of nearly 17% of roads improved in 2017, the condition of nearly 20% of pavements fell from “good” to “fair” or from “fair” to “poor.” Michigan’s roads are on a continuous deterioration cycle.

The report also includes data on the condition of all public bridges in Michigan, where the trend is similar. An analysis of the 2017 bridge condition data indicates that state and local bridge condition will begin to decline after this year, as 11.3% of bridges deteriorated while only 6.3% were improved. This year’s report also shows that Michigan has 10.3% of bridges rated as “structurally deficient.” By way of comparison with other Midwest states, Michigan has a significantly higher percentage of structurally deficient bridges than other Great Lakes states, with Indiana having 7.1%, Illinois 8.3%, Minnesota 5.3%, Ohio 5.8% and Wisconsin 7.8% structurally deficient bridges.

The TAMC Performance Measure Dashboards have been updated to show the condition, operation, and investment in the federal-aid eligible road system and in Michigan’s 11,125 public bridges. The TAMC website also contains an interactive map viewer that allows the public to view road and bridge conditions used in creating the annual reports. In addition to the 2017 Roads and Bridges Annual Report, the TAMC website has previous annual reports available for viewing under the “About Us” section. The 2017 report was approved by the TAMC on April 11, and can be viewed, along with other past reports, at this link (scroll down on screen to select “Annual Reports”): http://tamc.mcgi.state.mi.us/TAMC/#/aboutus.

The TAMC includes representatives from MDOT, Michigan Municipal League (MML), Michigan Association of Counties (MAC), Michigan Townships Association (MTA), Michigan Association of Regions (MAR), Michigan Transportation Planning Association (MTPA), the County Road Association of Michigan (CRA), and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget-Center for Shared Solutions (MCSS).

Transportation asset management is a process of managing public assets, such as roads and bridges, based on the long-range condition of the entire transportation system. The TAMC, created in 2002 by the Michigan Legislature, promotes the concept that the transportation system is unified, rather than separated by jurisdictional ownership. Its mission is to recommend an asset management strategy to the State Transportation Commission and the Michigan Legislature for all of Michigan's roads and bridges.

Chair: Joanna Johnson, CRA; Vice-Chair: Bill McEntee, CRA; Bob Slattery, MML; Gary Mekjian, MML; Jon Start, MTPA; Dave Wresinski, MDOT; Brad Wieferich, MDOT; Don Disselkoen, MAC; Derek Bradshaw, MAR; Jennifer Tubbs, MTA; Rob Surber, MCSS

Carpenter St. Reconstruction Project Begins Monday, Apr. 30

--from the City of Midland website:

April 27, 2018 – Beginning Monday, April 30, E. Carpenter Street will be closed to through traffic between Patrick Road and Mill Street as crews begin Phase I of a street reconstruction and water main installation project on Carpenter.

The total project entails a street reconstruction and water main replacement on Carpenter Street from Patrick to Ashman Street. The entire project is estimated to finish in August 2018.

For more information, contact City Engineering at 989-837-3348 or view project updates at http://bit.ly/midlandroads. Updates will also be shared on the City of Midland Facebook page at facebook.com/cityofmidlandmi and on Twitter at @CityofMidlandMI.

Residents are reminded that due to the nature of construction activities, the information provided above may change at any time. Should an issue arise that would change this schedule, the City will provide updates via the methods listed above.

Midland County Begins Spring Aerial Mosquito Treatment

Midland County Mosquito Control will be conducting aerial larviciding for mosquitoes beginning Monday, April 23, 2018 and may take up to 14 days to complete, weather permitting.  Airplane tail numbers are as follows:  N30454, N9152F, N8499K, N4016H and N4533J and will be conducting repetitive flights over woodland.  Midland County residents can take a look and see if they are included in the aerial program on our website at https://www.co.midland.mi.us/MosquitoControl/SpringAerialSchedule.aspx.   Vectobac 12AS liquid and Vectobac G granular Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) will be applied to woodland pools in the highlighted areas by airplane between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and dusk as weather permits. The material used in this program is a naturally-occurring soil bacterium which is toxic to mosquitoes and related biting flies but nontoxic for humans, pets and all other life forms.

In addition to the areas treated by airplanes, Mosquito Control crews will be treating additional woodland pools during April and May.  Residents with questions about the program can call Mosquito Control at (989) 832-8677.