Dear City Council Members --

 

After nearly another year and "up to $27,000" in consulting fees, what are you getting back from our Transportation Commission and its staff?

 

1.  Another mixed vote -- with no minds changed -- and absent two votes from a pair of the most seasoned and thoughtful commissioners who were term limited at the end of 2006.

 

2.  An angry mob of citizens who has never been exposed to the many reasons 4- to 3+2 lane conversions are working all over the country.

 

3.  No consensus from a small group of highly opinionated (but uninformed) "stakeholders" who met twice, received no explanation of the virtues of what was being proposed, and were given 20 minutes to reach "consensus". No surprise no minds were changed. By the way, only 14 showed up for that 2nd meeting (see attachment).

 

Facts:

 

1.  What we have is a "4 lane kind of guy" for a City Traffic Engineer (I established this in private conversation with him before I embarked on this 2-year odyssey) who hired a like-minded consultant with your blessing -- and bankroll.

 

2.  Too many commissioners who resonate to emotional arguments, usually beginning with "I"  or "My", that predict "cut-through traffic" (which, by the way, remains undefined by traffic engineers).

 

 

If you're looking for some serious insight and guidance, you need look no farther than Commissioner Maynard Christensen who was quoted by Hugh Leach in today's Lansing State Journal (at the very end of the article):

 

"There is a lot of data that supports this work. I haven't found anything other than emotional or anecdotal arguments against it."

 

I believe that will be your finding, too -- when you get up the courage to finally take up this proposal in public.

 

Best wishes,

 

Fred Bauries

1232 Old Hickory Lane

351-0234