In arguing that a transit line will not sufficiently reduce traffic, MDOT explains the reason why: induced travel. The I-75 expansion will also likely fail to provide meaningful congestion relief. SEMCOG also notes that estimated spending through 2045 will “not be sufficient to restore Southeast Michigan pavement to a state of good repair.” Through 2045, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) estimates the region needs to spend $20.9 billion on transit, but will have only $9.2 billion available. economy $1 trillion each year.įor Southeast Michigan, the cost of highway expansion – and the sprawl it will promote – will also make it harder to pay for important transportation priorities that already face an uncertain future. According to one study, sprawl costs the U.S. And low-density development requires far more spending on infrastructure including roads, sewers and power lines – all of which must be maintained. Sprawl leads to loss of open space, more air pollution and water overconsumption. I promote it.” But sprawl imposes high costs on society. As Brooks Patterson, the executive of Oakland County, wrote in an online essay, “let me state it unequivocally: I love sprawl. In contrast, more transit and support for transit-oriented development could lead to less dispersed neighborhoods that could support greater transit use over time.Īccording to some supporters of the expansion, the resulting sprawl would not be such a bad thing. Michigan argues that the highway is necessary in part because “Oakland County residential development is too dispersed to support a high level of transit service.” However, such logic risks creating a vicious cycle of road development and sprawl: If the only way to meet the transportation needs of sprawl is by building more roads, that will in turn encourage more sprawl, which will once again require more roads. And according to a Streetsblog analysis, shifting demographics and travel preferences in Oakland County “will likely shift perceptions” resulting in more, not less, support for transit in the coming years. The current growth rate projection of 7.7 percent from 2000 to 2030 is also far also lower than the 12.7 percent growth rate MDOT cited in it is justification for the project, published in 2005. But even in Oakland County, one of the few areas of the region that has not seen recent population decline, projected growth is slow and spread out: Current projections show the whole county adding fewer than 100,000 people between 20, across an area nearly four times as large as Chicago. In describing the need for the project, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has pointed to population growth in Oakland County as the reason the area needs a larger highway. Although some sections of the project have already begun, as of April 2019, the $1.4 billion last segment of the project, which stretches from M-102 to north of 13 Mile Road, was not slated to begin construction until the fall of 2019. Nevertheless, Michigan is currently undertaking project to expand the capacity of Interstate 75 through suburban Oakland County, north of Detroit – a project that is both unnecessary and will exacerbate the region’s problems. Such a situation seems to call for reinvestment in the current system, not road expansion. The Detroit area, where population has shrunk over the past 20 years, suffers from costly sprawl, roads and bridges that are in poor condition, and a woefully inadequate transit system. Original story from Highway Boondoggles 5: As of June 2022, the Interstate 75 expansion project was under construction.
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