City Commission to Vote on Making Two-Way State Street Permanent

Traverse City commissioners will vote Tuesday – at a meeting held a day later than usual due to the Presidents Day holiday – on permanently converting State Street, Pine Street, and Boardman Avenue to two-way traffic after three years of studying the configuration as a pilot project.

The commission’s consideration comes after Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members unanimously supported the conversion in November. At that meeting, Chris Zull of Progressive Companies provided a summary of data collected to date. He said the conversion has slowed traffic, increased utilization on State Street (based on parking revenues), and reduced the number of accidents involving cyclists/pedestrians.

Zull said the change was also supported by a majority of businesses. “32 of 43 business owners with property along State Street rated their experience with the two-way pilot as ‘very positive’ or ‘somewhat positive,’ while nine rated their experience as ‘somewhat negative’ or ‘very negative,’” according to a Progressive Companies memo. DDA board members agreed the corridor felt safer and more accessible as a two-way street – though still offered opportunities for improvement if the design is permanently adopted.

City commissioners will have final approval over that decision. City Manager Benjamin Marentette says that an internal employee team analyzed the two-way design, weighing its pros and cons. In the pros category, conversion from one-way to two-traffic “is consistent with nationally recognized best practices to reduce speed and increase pedestrian safety,” according to a memo summarizing the team’s findings. That’s particularly true “at mid-block crossings due to better vision for approaching drivers.”

When Front Street closes for events or emergencies, having two-way traffic on State Street allows both eastbound and westbound traffic to be maintained, staff noted. The design also reduces the risk of wrong-way crashes, improves public safety by providing “eyes viewing the corridor in both directions” (a crime reduction technique), and allows “people to travel more directly to their destination.” That significantly reduces “the need to travel extra distances on a one-way network, therefore reducing vehicle emissions,” the memo states. “The benefit is also extended to bicyclists as well.”

However, the team also flagged several challenges with the design. State Street is not set up for deliveries with two-way traffic, and “delivery vehicles are blocking vehicle and bike lanes,” according to the memo. Congestion on State Street has caused bus delays for BATA, and a significant loss of metered parking and revenue on State Street is projected “if the project is made permanent to accommodate a bike lane,” the memo states.

More broadly, the configuration means there are three westbound lanes and one eastbound lane downtown. Therefore, any closure of State Street’s eastbound lane means “significant detours and impeded emergency access.” Staff believed current left-turn conflicts and delays at Cass and Union could be “resolved with traffic light modifications,” but estimated that solution could cost $500,000 to $1 million for permanent improvements.

Because of the mix of pros and cons, the internal team did not reach “consensus as to how to proceed,” Marentette says. However, he notes the city does not have a traffic engineer on staff and thus lacked that expertise in its review. Accordingly, the city hired an external traffic engineering firm, Wade Trim, to analyze the pilot data from Progressive AE. That expert review “provides the technical expertise necessary to form a qualified recommendation for the city commission,” Marentette wrote to the board.

Wade Trim Transportation Engineer Lori Pawlik conducted that analysis. She determined the “preferred option for operations from a traffic and safety standpoint is to keep the two-way conversion as a permanent condition on State Street.” Pawklik wrote: “Based on best practices and experience, as well as evidence presented by the study demonstrating positive impacts to traffic operations, safety, and businesses, there is no compelling justification for reverting State Street back to one-way operations.”

If the city does keep State Street in a two-way configuration, it needs to give Front Street a closer look, she said. Eventually, fully converting Front Street to two-way traffic is recommended to provide “consistency for both motorists and pedestrians” and balance westbound/eastbound traffic downtown, Pawlik said. Converting Front Street has been met with strong resistance from merchants in the past, which Pawlik acknowledged in her report.

“It is understood that there are some obstacles to be overcome to fully implement the two-way conversion; therefore, it is recommended to first revisit the concerns with maintenance team and businesses to determine whether their concerns are still valid, and/or could be mitigated through any additional changes,” she wrote. “If the full Front Street conversion is then determined impossible, the secondary option could be implemented by extending the two-way conversion by one block on each end of the one-way segment on Front Street.”

Pawlik pointed out that downtown continues to grow “with construction of new buildings and parking facilities,” with room for yet more infill. To manage the downtown transportation network, Pawlik said the city should require traffic impact studies for new developments and “ensure developers contribute to mitigation efforts, which may include participating in funding for related improvements to maintain acceptable service levels, such as driveway improvements, adding turn lanes, or traffic signals.”

Marentette is recommending city commissioners follow “the advice of the qualified traffic engineer retained by the city” and make the two-way conversion permanent. Commissioners could vote Tuesday to direct the city manager to return with traffic control orders that they would adopt to enact the change, as well as provide recommendations on improvements to be made as part of the conversion.