Ann Arbor officials hold off on OK’ing Michigan Medicine bridge widening - MLive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI — A arguable connection to widen the main entree span to Michigan Medicine successful Ann Arbor is continuing to beryllium debated, but metropolis officials whitethorn beryllium moving person to a compromise with the University of Michigan.

City Council held disconnected Monday night, Jan. 23, connected approving a astir $10 cardinal operation declaration to determination guardant with repairing and widening the East Medical Center Drive span disconnected Fuller Road starting this spring.

The metropolis whitethorn alternatively redesign and rebid the task for operation successful 2024 with amended accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists.

After voting connected a bid of changes, including calling for wider sidewalk abstraction and protective barriers betwixt cars and pedestrians, assembly postponed the connection until Feb. 6.

The full task outgo arsenic presented Monday nighttime was estimated astatine $13.5 million, with $6 cardinal coming from the metropolis and $7.5 cardinal coming from the university. The changes officials are considering present could outgo millions much and the metropolis and assemblage person been negotiating however to divided costs.

Council Member Jen Eyer, D-4th Ward, said she appreciates the enactment being done to travel up with a amended plan, but she inactive suggested UM should beryllium paying more.

“It bothers maine that we are inactive astatine this constituent wherever the metropolis is having to sorb much and much costs conscionable to support pedestrians successful what is going to go a much unsafe situation due to the fact that of the widening that the assemblage wants — not that the metropolis wants,” Eyer said of UM’s petition for a 5th car lane.

The assemblage has yet to show widening the span for cars is truly indispensable and it seems similar the metropolis is warring harder for pedestrians — who see UM infirmary workers — than the assemblage is, Eyer said.

Council Member Jenn Cornell, D-5th Ward, said it’s important to admit the worth of Michigan Medicine to the section system successful presumption of economical improvement and occupation creation. UM is constructing a caller 12-story infirmary gathering that could bring different 1,600 jobs.

The metropolis and UM antecedently agreed to divided span repair costs, portion UM agreed to wage for the arguable widening to adhd a 5th automobile lane, which the assemblage wants for improved postulation flow. That would adhd a 2nd inbound lane for arriving cars and ambulances, which could beryllium the archetypal measurement toward a aboriginal widening of UM’s information of East Medical Center Drive done the aesculapian complex.

“This is the incorrect clip to beryllium committing to car civilization for decades to come,” said Michelle Hughes, 1 of the residents who spoke retired earlier assembly Monday night.

Various residents and officials person expressed concerns the widening doesn’t align with metropolis proscription and carbon-neutrality goals to importantly trim car travel.

Council Member Dharma Akmon, D-4th Ward, said she wants the span redesign to see arsenic overmuch abstraction arsenic imaginable for pedestrians and cyclists.

“It does look similar this has been a spot much fraught and hard to get to this constituent than it needed to be, considering our stated values and policies,” Akmon said. “It feels similar we started with an accent connected capable postulation travel and are glomming connected improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, truthful going guardant I truly privation america to commencement with our committedness to Vision Zero.”

As the span is configured now, determination is 1 inbound lane and 3 outbound lanes. The widening would alteration it to 3 outbound and 2 inbound, though metropolis unit clarified Monday the projected plan enactment would person the other inbound lane taper disconnected astatine the Fuller Road intersection, maintaining the existent four-lane crossing region for pedestrians there.

As for wherefore keeping the span astatine its existent width and reconfiguring it to 2 inbound and 2 outbound lanes wasn’t an enactment being proposed, metropolis nationalist works spokesperson Robert Kellar said postulation modeling has indicated 3 outbound lanes are indispensable to support capable postulation flow.

The metropolis did not person information to supply connected the imaginable postulation impacts of going down to 2 outbound lanes.

Eyer asked for much elaborate postulation information to assistance assembly determine if widening is truly needed.

City Engineer Nick Hutchinson said a study could beryllium prepared for council, on with outgo estimates for protective barriers, which unit besides didn’t person Monday night.

Ann Arbor’s aged City Council voted 6-5 past February successful favour of moving guardant with designing a wider span with an added car lane. The constitution of assembly has since changed with fractional its members caller since the November election.

The lone 3 members from the aged assembly who voted for the widening and are inactive connected assembly are Mayor Christopher Taylor, Lisa Disch and Travis Radina. Three members of the aged assembly who were against the widening and stay connected assembly are Erica Briggs, Eyer and Linh Song.

The 5 caller members elected successful November volition present assistance determine the project’s eventual fate.

Before postponing Monday night, assembly took up a substitute connection that calls for collaborating with the assemblage to make a caller plan to widen the span to amended facilitate entree to the aesculapian halfway for some motorized and nonmotorized proscription users. While it has yet to person last approval, arsenic initially presented it would authorize the metropolis head to walk $500,000 toward a imaginable $2 cardinal summation to the task to amended accommodate nonmotorized transportation, with the assemblage contributing $1.5 million.

If it costs little than $2 million, savings would accrue to the assemblage and the metropolis inactive would wage $500,000, according to the proposal, which City Administrator Milton Dohoney said was the effect of caller negotiations with the university.

The other costs see $650,000 for redesign and $850,000 for added operation costs, contemplating adding an other beam to the span truthful the occidental sidewalk could enactment astir arsenic wide arsenic it is today, positive a $505,000 contingency.

One of the points of contention astir the span widening connection arsenic initially presented by unit has been that determination was nary nett summation successful abstraction for nonmotorized proscription users and 1 of the sidewalks would beryllium narrowed. The sidewalks are 10.5 feet wide connected each broadside close present and unit had projected shifting 2.5 feet from the westbound broadside to the eastbound side, resulting successful a 13-foot-wide shared-use way connected the eastbound broadside and an 8-foot-wide sidewalk connected the westbound broadside that assembly thinks is excessively narrow.

Council voted 10-1 Monday connected an amendment projected by Akmon, calling for protective barriers and having the sidewalks beryllium astatine slightest 13 wide connected the eastbound broadside and 10.5 connected the westbound side. Taylor formed the lone dissenting vote.

Expressing concerns astir cost, Taylor said helium doesn’t cognize if a barrier-protected sidewalk on the span — similar determination is on the Broadways bridges — is indispensable oregon practical. The Stadium bridges don’t person barriers and the raised sidewalk plan feels similar capable protection, helium said.

Both the metropolis and assemblage person ambitious climate-action plans that prioritize reducing conveyance miles traveled, the substitute solution states, calling the task an accidental for the metropolis to code a assemblage request successful a mode accordant with the city’s A2Zero carbon-neutrality goals.

Officials person been disappointed a projected pedestrian pathway nether the span can’t beryllium included successful the plan astatine this clip due to the fact that the Michigan Department of Transportation isn’t yet consenting to o.k. it adjacent to its railroad tracks.

Larry Deck of advocacy radical Walk Bike Washtenaw said the latest span connection is little bad, but inactive not good.

Radina, D-3rd Ward, said the span widening has been 1 of the much hard decisions during his clip connected council.

Briggs, D-5th Ward, said she inactive wanted to person a pugnacious speech astir it and suggested she inactive could beryllium comfy with not adding a 5th car lane. She hasn’t yet seen postulation modeling to amusement 2 lanes successful and 2 lanes retired wouldn’t work, she said.

Council Member Chris Watson, D-2nd Ward, asked unit astir the benefits of adding the 5th lane.

Hutchinson said determination would not beryllium a batch of contiguous payment arsenic it would conscionable relation arsenic a right-turn lane onto West Medical Center Drive initially, but it could go a done lane if UM widens East Medical Center Drive done the analyzable successful the future, which the assemblage has talked astir doing.

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