9-30-07

Dear City Council Members:

Thank you for scheduling final action on the Hagadorn Road proposal for Tuesday.

There are a few final clarifications I’d like to share with you in response to issues raised during the lengthy debate of recent weeks (and months).

PROPOSED CONFIGURATION OF HAGADORN RD. AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF GRAND RIVER AVE. AND HASLETT RD.

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood details of the plan is the proposed lane configuration at and near the Grand River Ave. and Haslett Rd. intersections.

Hagadorn will look exactly as it does now at these intersections AND for a block or more before it “tapers” to or from the 3-lane cross section.

LEFT TURN BACKUPS ON HAGADORN RD. AT GRAND RIVER AVE.

Backups for southbound left turning traffic onto Grand River Ave. are caused by MDOT, which controls the timing of traffic signals on all state highways, including Grand River Ave.  MDOT has a tendency to favor their roads when assigning “green time”. Backups will not change because of the new cross section.

THE FEAR OF CUT-THROUGH TRAFFIC

One traffic engineer has written that “cut-through” traffic is an issue always raised when 4- to 3+2-lane reconfigurations are proposed. He notes that there is no generally accepted standard definition, although a few communities have made attempts. He goes on to write that “traffic calming” measures always are mentioned in discussions of cut-through traffic.  East Lansing has a well established process for dealing with neighborhood complaints when perceived problems actually are identified.

It’s worth remembering there are two kinds of streets: private and public.

Private roadways are owned by the people who live along them. Use is limited exclusively to them and their guests. The costs of maintenance and improvements are borne by these small groups of property owners. Note how different that is from public streets.

Dan Burden’s most recent message to East Lansing ended with this warning: Any decision, pro or con road diet, or anything for that matter, born of fear is a bad decision.

TURNING ONTO HAGADORN RD. -- BEFORE AND AFTER CONVERSION

Currently, entering Hagadorn Rd. from a driveway or intersecting street requires a driver to process the speed and distance of vehicles approaching in TWO lanes, if turning right, FOUR lanes if turning left. When entering the proposed new Hagadorn Rd., those numbers are just one and two. And the Hagadorn traffic likely will be moving at a somewhat slower, predictable speed. In addition, bicyclists will be more visible because they should be moving with the vehicular traffic in the roadway rather than in both directions on the sidewalks.

IMPACT ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS TRAFFIC

Both the Chair and Vice Chair of the Transportation Commission at various times cited existing traffic congestion at MacDonald School and, especially, Marble School as reasons they could not support the Hagadorn proposal.

In addition, they and you have heard from school and school board representatives. Worth noting is the fact that all speak of the problems that already exist because the facilities used by parents to drop off and pick up their children were not designed for current demands and volumes. A lack of stacking space, curb cuts too close the a major intersection, and a poorly designed internal traffic plan all are acknowledged contributing causes.

A question that should be asked (if it hasn’t been already) is: Has Todd Sneathen done what he said he would do at your 11-28-06 work session? According to the approved minutes, he said “he could work with the school to come up with some possibilities to alleviate the elementary’s concern.”

I hope the foregoing has been useful to you in forming your decision and that you will cast a vote favoring this progressive, community-friendly proposal. It is my opinion that we all should be willing to Share Our Public Right of Way.

Cordially,

Fred Bauries

1232 Old Hickory Lane (for the past month)

Previously 521 N. Hagadorn Rd. (at the Melrose intersection) for 40 years where my wife M.J. and I raised our son and daughter who are now in their 40s and still living in the area.