- Jackson County and Blackman Township have voted against the E Michigan Ave "road diet" — a proposed lane reduction from Page Avenue to Ganson Street.
- Michigan's Department of Transportation (MDOT) could still proceed with the project, but says it is listening to local concerns.
- MDOT Manager Kelby Wallace says there's a lot of misinformation about the proposal.
"Taking away a lane of traffic — people just don't understand why you'd want to do that," says Kelby Wallace, Jackson Transportation Service Center Manager for Michigan's Department of Transportation (MDOT).
WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE WHERE LANES WOULD BE REDUCED:
MDOT wants to put Jackson's East Michigan Avenue on a diet — a "road diet". That means reducing lanes here on East Michigan Avenue from two in each direction to one in each direction, with a center turn lane.
"We do not want this locally in Blackman Township," says Blackman Township Clerk David Elwell.
Blackman Township has already voted against it. Jackson County voted against it this week, but that doesn't mean that the project is dead.
"MDOT does have the ability to make that final decision, but we're hopeful that they recognized the pushback against their plan," says Elwell.
As I dug into the details, it occurred to me that some of the opposition to the East Michigan Avenue road diet may be based on a misunderstanding. So I came to MDOT to get the story on where Michigan Avenue will actually be narrowed.
"There's a lot of misinformation," says Wallace. "The area we're looking at is from Ganson to Page Avenue.
In other words, says Wallace, the lane reduction would only begin here, where Ganson Street breaks off of East Michigan Avenue, and would extend to Page Avenue. From Ganson Street to the 127, driving east, East Michigan Avenue would remain vie lanes.
Wallace says MDOT studies show that safety would be enhanced without much impact on traffic flow.
"Hourly traffic counts — we've kind of done the analysis, and it shows that those volumes will still operate well with one lane in each direction in that center turn lane," says Wallace.
Elwell says that's still a no.
"It puts the same amount of traffic in one line," he says, "which makes it more difficult for people leaving businesses, residences, or intersecting streets.
At any rate, says Wallace, MDOT is actively listening to feedback, and there's still time to adjust the project, as it only commences in 2028.
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