Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Michigan

The Michigan Department of Transportation has pointed to population growth in Oakland County as the reason the area needs a larger Interstate 75 north of Detroit. But projected growth shows the county adding fewer than 100,000 people between 2015 and 2045, across an area nearly four times as large as Chicago. Photo: Ken Lund

Highway Boondoggles: Madness in Michigan

By Gideon Weissman and Matthew Casale | Jun 21, 2019 | 5 Comments

The Great Lakes State is undertaking to expand the capacity of Interstate 75 — a project that is both unnecessary and will exacerbate the region’s problems.

Lansing lawmakers are fighting over a gas tax or tolls to fix roads, but not over improving transit

Will There Be Tolls for Michigan Drivers?

By Aaron Short | Jun 18, 2019 | 2 Comments

The debate over tolls versus a gas tax to fix roads in Michigan does not include room for more mass transit.

Ohio's "Columbus Connector" highway project cost $1 billion, about as much as Governor Mike Dewine's 18 cent gas tax hike would bring in annually. Image: ODOT

Midwest Will Raise Gas Taxes — And Make Everything Worse

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 7, 2019 | 36 Comments

If Midwest states shovel billions more into highway widenings (likely), it could just increase maintenance costs and further undermine their cities.

A 2014 rendering of a possible configuration for Lansing BRT. Image: Dover, Kohl & Partners

Trump Budget Threats and the Local Anti-Transit Brigade Spike Lansing BRT

By Stephen Miller | Apr 21, 2017 | 5 Comments

Eight years in the making, the project was undone by suburban opposition. Now, transit advocates in Michigan's capital are figuring out what can be done to improve transit while their opponents take a victory lap.

Parking Madness: Niagara Falls vs. Ann Arbor

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 22, 2016 | 28 Comments

We’ve seen some tough competition in the first round of the 2016 Parking Madness tournament. Yesterday, the parking lots of Federal Way, Washington, knocked out the parking lots around Montreal’s central rail station to advance. Today’s matchup looks fierce, with a crater in the tourist destination downtown of Niagara Falls, New York, facing off against a crater in the university town of Ann Arbor, […]

The Complete Case Against Highway Widening in Detroit

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 1, 2016 | 3 Comments

Michigan DOT wants to spend $1 billion rebuilding and widening I-75 to Detroit’s sprawling northern suburbs, at the expense of the city and close-in suburbs. Royal Oak, a walkable suburb that borders the city, is not having it. The City Council passed a resolution unanimously this week officially opposing the widening of I-75 as well as […]

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