Local officials are reviewing ways to improve the safety of Barlow Street -- and clarifying jurisdiction -- after two pedestrians were struck by vehicles in a three-week stretch in the busy corridor.

Sixty-one-year-old David Knoll of Traverse City was killed November 21 when he attempted to cross Barlow near Manor Lane. Knoll was walking at night in an unlit portion of the road with no marked pedestrian crossings when he was hit; the driver in the accident was not found at fault.

Three weeks later, a 61-year-old Traverse City woman was struck by a car less than a half-mile south in the same stretch of Barlow near the U.S. Post Office. As with Knoll’s case, the woman was crossing the road at night when she was hit. In that accident, the victim survived and was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

The accidents spurred public criticism about the safety risks posed by Barlow Street, which is home to a large population of low-income housing residents who rely on walking, biking and public transit for mobility. Bay Area Transportation Authority’s (BATA’s) busiest city loop – with nearly 70,000 annual fares – includes multiple stops along Barlow; the road is also home to a Salvation Army providing a food pantry and financial assistance to those in need. Following the two pedestrian accidents, Ticker readers wrote in to express concerns that the “entire Traverse Heights area is in need of street lights” and that Barlow is “a major commuter road, but there are few sidewalks anywhere.”

“Tragedies like these two are likely to continue unless Garfield Township addresses the issue of no sidewalks or crossings in this corridor of high pedestrian, bus stops and bike usage by many of our most vulnerable citizens,” one reader wrote.

Local officials widely concur the corridor is in need of upgrades – but are less clear about who is responsible for paying for those improvements. Barlow crosses two jurisdictions: Traverse City is responsible for the road up to Boon Street, while Garfield Township is responsible for Barlow from Boon Street to South Airport Road. Both pedestrian accidents occurred within the township’s stretch of road.

Garfield Township Supervisor Chuck Korn says the township has had “several conversations” about corridor safety following the accidents. He notes that the Grand Traverse County Road Commission will be completing a nearly half-million-dollar repaving project of Barlow in 2017. “I’ve spoken to (Road Commission Manager) Jim Cook, and my understanding is they’re going to make an effort to have a paved shoulder that is wide enough for walkers and bikers and so forth,” says Korn.

Cook confirms widened shoulders are part of the project plans for Barlow. “The shoulders will accommodate pedestrians and bicycles, though it doesn’t get them off the road,” he says. Cook notes that Road Commission funding is restricted to the road’s right-of-way, meaning dollars can’t be spent on adjacent projects like sidewalks and streetlights. However, “those could easily be added (with the township’s participation), and there’s some cost savings if it’s done as part of our project, because contractors would save on mobilization costs and pricing (for materials),” Cook says. 

But township officials say it’s not as simple as tacking on lighting and sidewalks to the Road Commission’s project, particularly without funding sources identified. Lighting projects are typically accomplished in Garfield Township through a special assessment district (SAD), where the costs of the project are borne by property owners, explains Korn. Residents can either request a SAD, or the township can initiate one; either scenario requires the consent of a majority of property owners in that area. “At some point we do want to talk to Traverse City Light & Power about some kind of lighting system for (Barlow),” Korn says.

And while the township has “some funds available (for sidewalks), there’s not enough to construct sidewalks throughout the township,” says Korn. Instead, the township relies on property owners for the majority of its sidewalk construction, requiring sidewalks to be installed on a parcel-by-parcel basis as properties are redeveloped.

With Garfield Township also exploring the possibility of establishing redevelopment districts, including along Barlow – which would provide economic incentives for developers to build in the corridor, possibly resulting in a burst of activity that could result in new sidewalks – the township faces the conundrum of paying for infrastructure out of its own pocket now or continuing with its plan to attract more development in the future.

“Two accidents give us an impetus to move more quickly, but we still want to do it right,” says Korn. “We’re not going to run out and start bidding a project. We’ll do it right, and hope and pray in the meantime we don’t have another accident.”

Township officials could also collaborate with city officials on partnership opportunities in the corridor. City Planning Director Russ Soyring notes the city installed new sidewalks on part of Barlow last year, and says the city is working on changing its zoning code in other areas to encourage consistent sidewalks throughout the corridor. Soyring says the city could also look at traffic-calming measures to slow down vehicles, as well as upgrading storm drains to accommodate more sidewalks and curbs.

“We’ll have to address stormwater issues, but (Barlow) deserves to be curbed and have sidewalks on both sides,” says Soyring. “It’s a busy street, there are a lot of pedestrians there, and we see a lot of them in the road. Folks in Traverse Heights would appreciate having a variety of transportation forms available to them…we would like to build more sidewalks along Barlow and make it a complete street.”