Project officials: Vision for Washtenaw Avenue will take shape over several years

Sometime in the next few years, you could find yourself traveling from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti — or vice versa — on a bus that tells red lights to turn green.

That's called "transit signal priority," and it's one of the short-term solutions for making Washtenaw Avenue a more transit-friendly corridor, said Sarah Binkowski, a transportation engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the consultants working on the ReImagine Washtenaw project.

"This is actually being looked at to happen in the next few years," Binkowski said at a community meeting Wednesday at the Washtenaw County Service Center.

"Basically if the bus is approaching a signal and it's green, and it's about ready to turn red, the bus will say to the signal, 'Hey, can you keep it green for me a little bit longer so I can get through the intersection?' Or if the bus is coming up to the signal and it's red, it can say, 'Hey, I'm coming, can you turn green for me?' So that kind of gets the bus through the intersection a little bit quicker."

Part of the vision for ReImagine Washtenaw is a future where more people shift away from personal automobiles and instead walk, ride a bike or take a bus to their destination — and the thinking is that can help with traffic congestion along the five-mile corridor.

Neal Billetdeaux, a consultant from SmithGroup JJR, presented the bulk of the information shared at Wednesday's meeting, which was attended by several local government officials and some residents.

At certain parts of Washtenaw Avenue east of US-23, he said, there's talk of a "road diet" that would take the road from five to three lanes to slow traffic and create a safer pedestrian environment.

"With current traffic volumes, a three-lane cross section is not viable," he said. "But with diversion of traffic to other roads and a mode shift from auto to transit or bike, this definitely could be viable."

• Download the workshop presentation

Officials from the city of Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township, Ypsilanti Township and the city of Ypsilanti are working with urban design and transportation consultants on ReImagine Washtenaw.

Additional partners include the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, Michigan Department of Transportation, Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study.

Project manager Nathan Voght, who works for the county, said local officials continue to discuss the idea of a corridor improvement authority to oversee improvements on Washtenaw Avenue.

He said the consensus seems to be starting with an authority that doesn't capture local tax revenue, but instead serves as a body that can accept state and federal grant dollars.

"The idea is if you become an authority, you're much more eligible for state and federal funding to do things like infrastructure upgrades, transit upgrades," he said.

Voght said the vision for ReImagine Washtenaw has been around for a while, and it's now getting into the implementation phase. He said the federally funded study being done right now with the help of consultants should result in a report being released later this fall with some refined ideas.

"What we're trying to do is present some alternatives to the public that we've really studied pretty hard with our consultant and just get their feedback," he said. "We're also asking people to give us feedback on things like mid-block crossings and the existing conditions on the roadway — what areas do they think we need to address?"

Billetdeaux said "queue jump lanes" for AATA buses is another idea being considered to improve the transit experience.

"Basically what this is is an opportunity for buses to get a jump on the light in front of automobiles," he said. "The bus gets the green light in its own lane separate from the automobiles."

A series of transit "super stops" for AATA buses along Washtenaw Avenue is another piece of the plan. Voght said designs for those could be finished by this fall.

"I think what you're going to see is a consolidation of some of the stops out there as we provide better sidewalk facilities for people to actually get to them," he said. "You're going to see something that's more elaborate, that's got more facilities like covered bike parking, signage, lighting, a nicer shelter, digital readouts for when the next bus is coming — modern transportation technology."

Different road configurations are being considered for how to fit dedicated transit lanes and continuous buffered bike lanes on Washtenaw Avenue.

One scenario shows bike lanes on both sides of the road separated from traffic by a two-foot painted buffer, though no physical barrier. Another scenario shows bike lanes tucked between lanes of automobile traffic and dedicate transit lanes, without a buffer between cyclists and buses.

"It's not the best solution," Voght acknowledged. "We're trying to work within the framework of a busy thoroughfare. On the other hand, all of the communities have adopted nonmotorized plans that call for bike lanes in the roadway, and so we think we can provide a reasonably safe bike facility for bicyclists to use, and it's going to become safer and safer the more people use them."

Dozens of community members attended the first two public workshops this week where the scenarios were unveiled, and two more workshops are scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Voght said he thinks most people are generally supportive, though there are some concerns.

"Some people are concerned about the vision for the corridor," he said. "And I think they see the congestion that's out there today, and they say, 'Well, how could you possibly add a bike like? Or how could you possibly do a mixed-use development on this road? It's too busy.'

"But some of the changes we envision will require fewer vehicles in the future on the roadway, but that's already the trend that's occurring if you look at vehicle volumes and transit ridership."

Ann Arbor City Council Member Jane Lumm, who attended Wednesday's meeting, said she has a lot of questions about the practicality of what's being presented.

"Dedicating lanes for buses? Taking out other lanes? How would this work?" she said, adding she hopes more residents give feedback. "This is a big deal, obviously."

Ann Arbor resident Len Harding, who also attended Wednesday's meeting, said Washtenaw Avenue is a problem and he'd love to see it solved, but he isn't seeing a good solution.

"I think what they're proposing is to move traffic along the corridor, but they're also proposing to have economic development along the corridor," he said. "And that economic development is not going to be supported by the people who live along the corridor — there's simply not enough money there, particularly as you get east of Carpenter. Those are not affluent neighborhoods."

Larry Krieg, a member of the Ypsilanti Township Planning Commission, has been involved in the committee-level discussions and he's embracing the vision.

"I see my role here primarily as trying to do something that will make this community a place where my grandkids can stay and prosper," he said.

Ann Arbor resident Vivienne Armentrout said at Wednesday's meeting she has concerns about the plans showing 11-foot-wide traffic lanes. Project officials said that was the width they determined would work best to fit other desired elements on the roadway.

"I know when I'm traveling in my little car and a great big hefty truck goes past me in the next lane, it makes me feel insecure," Armentrout said.

Kari Martin, MDOT’s University Region planner, said 11 feet is MDOT's minimum standard. She said MDOT, which controls the roadway, will be looking at the widths to make sure they're appropriate.

"MDOT is participating as kind of an advisor to this group," she said. "There's a lot more process that would need to take place to vet some of these concepts."

Billetdeaux described Washtenaw Avenue as a "service-oriented corridor" — with 53 percent being primarily commercial land use, and 24 percent having some kind of residential use.

"There's lots of active, successful commercial uses out there and there's more underway, but there's also a lot of room for improvement," he said. "There's over 100 acres of redevelopment opportunities on vacant land and underutilized buildings."

Part of the vision, Billetdeaux said, is to strengthen commerce and improve the "user experience," and also create a welcoming residential atmosphere with improved curb appeal.

The average daily traffic count ranges between 26,000 to 46,000 in both directions at different points along the corridor, according to figures presented Wednesday. Currently there are no bike lanes, but improvements have been made for pedestrians in recent years.

"Up to the year 2000, almost half of the frontage had no sidewalks along Washtenaw Avenue," Billetdeaux said. "Fortunately that's been improved now — it's just about 21 percent today. But much work remains to improve the pedestrian level of service."

Billetdeaux stressed what's being proposed is not anything that's going to be implemented overnight — it's a 20- to 30-year vision.

"In the fiscal reality of today, the implementation is likely to be incremental as funds become available," agreed Eli Cooper, the city of Ann Arbor's transportation program manager.

Cooper said he's excited about the concepts.

"There's both streetscape improvements as well as transportation improvements that will take this suburban arterial roadway and convert it into a complete street with higher emphasis on transit and nonmotorized travel — really also serving as a spine to connect the communities," he said.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.