Jessica's letter to MLUI....

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Hi Kelly,

Thanks for your return call last week. I was out of town all week, and am just catching up on calls/emails.

A bit of background on Okemos Road: Meridian Twp had been wanting to add a median/ center turn lane at intersections on a section of Okemos Road for about 7 years. The Ingham County Road Commission kept putting them off until all of a sudden, earlier this year, they said they would do it. The township got a grant to plant trees and other plants in the median--- they were determined to do this, despite what the road commission wanted (no plants). The Road commission also insisted that the lanes be 12', which is much wider than they are now (they say it's because of the kind of machines they have and because they have to match the seams--- however the current lanes range from 9 to 11.5 feet). Wanting to see the project move forward, the township decided not to fight them on the lane widths.

There was no public comment period, and it was only recently that citizens learned about the plans. Folks who live in the area took the road commission to court, and the judge ordered the road commission to hold a public comment meeting. They held the meeting in May. There was 3.5 hours of comment from about 50 citizens, walk & bike adovocates, and others, all against the current plans (objections were primarily about the 12' lanes (too wide), the lack of plans for trees between the road and sidewalk, and lack of bike lanes). And at the end of the meeting, the commissions voted to move forward with the project as is--- saying that their reasons were financial.

Since the "sham" public hearing, there has been a lot of talk amongst the groups who opposed the project. Basically, people want more control over how their community looks and feels and functions.

The main things we've talked about trying to accomplish include:

1. A campaign to change the road commission's policy against planting trees between the street and the sidewalk (they say it's dangerous, because people who accidentally drive off the road might hit the trees---- which of course makes no sense).

2. A campaign to change our road commissioners positions from appointed to elected.

3. A campaign to change the way the road commission is governed---basically they are totally autonomous, and answer to no one. We want to change this so that there are other powers in the county that can overrule their bad decisions.

So, I'm wondering if these things have been done in other communities, how they did it, and what kinds of resources might be available to help us accomplish these things.

Any advice? They say your the man to talk to.

Thanks,

Jessica Yorko
517-214-5684