Washtenaw/Oakwood project fails to gain planning commission support, now goes to city council

Opponents of the project contend EMU could more effectively alleviate congestion by improving the stretch of Oakwood to the north of Washtenaw Avenue and the intersection of Oakwood and Huron River Drive. Those changes would result in less impact on residents living at Oakwood and Washtenaw. University officials have said they don't currently have the funds to perform work north of the intersection.

“The tie represents the challenge of the project, which is balancing the traffic needs of EMU and the needs of the neighborhood on the three other sides — there is no perfect kind of answer,” City Planner Teresa Gillotti said.

EMU has invested more than $200 million in capital improvement projects over the course of several years. Many of those have been on the west side of campus, bordering Oakwood. The new student center, library and busiest parking lots and structures are only accessible by car from Oakwood, leading to significant traffic back-ups throughout much of the school day.

EMU commissioned a study in 2009 that provided suggestions on addressing Oakwood’s traffic problems, but the university says it doesn’t have the funds to implement all of the ideas. Money through a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant became available for the Washtenaw and Oakwood intersection project. If plans are approved by the end of the year, the project costs would be covered.

If the plans aren’t submitted in time, EMU will be responsible for 20 percent of the costs. Gillotti said the project is still on schedule, despite the planning commission’s vote.

Council Member Pete Murdock said he thinks the improvements are only a partial solution when put in the larger context of traffic issues around EMU. But he said the project would help alleviate some of the congestion at the intersection and noted it has immediate funding available.

“You look for the money, get the money and do the part that the money is there for,” he said, adding that ultimately officials must consider how to encourage students to get to EMU by means other than a single-person occupied car.

Improvements are planned at the Washtenaw/Oakwood intersection bordering the Eastern Michigan University campus in Ypsilanti.

Courtesy of the city of Ypsilanti

Residents who live at the intersection Oakwood and Washtenaw questioned why the university invested so much money without allocating any toward the traffic issues. They say it has impacted their quality of life and argue a major overhaul of the Washtenaw and Oakwood intersection would be unnecessary if issues were addressed to the north of Washtenaw on Oakwood.

Frank Wright lives at the intersection of Cross and Oakwood streets. He said the problems have increased as EMU closed off roads on campus and continued building without accounting for how it would impact traffic.

"They spent a quarter of a billion on construction with no plans implemented for infrastructure," he said. "No developer would ever be allowed to put in a quarter of a billion of new building construction without also paying for infrastructure improvements before sticking the first shovel in the ground."

Leigh Greden, executive director of government and community relations for EMU, said the adjustments university officials made to the plans were well-received by planning commissioners. He said the university will make several other small changes before going to council.

“We did receive positive feedback, even from commissioners who voted against us,” he said. “I understand their frustration about the rest of Oakwood, but it is impossible for EMU or another governmental entity to make promises about financing capital projects in this current fiscal climate.”

Major changes planned at the intersection include adding a right turn lane to westbound Washtenaw before Oakwood and adding a left turn lane on southbound Oakwood before Washtenaw. A pedestrian island is expected to be installed along Washtenaw Avenue on the east side of Oakwood to improve pedestrian safety.

The city “owns” the road 300 feet north of Washtenaw Avenue, and the university owns the rest of Oakwood to the north.

Gillotti said city officials were pleased to see several changes to the plans after they were first presented to the planning commission in October. Striping and signage were added to prevent traffic on southbound Oakwood north of Washtenaw from blocking driveways. The university also has committed to adding a landscape screen to block some light coming from vehicles.

Oakwood's lanes will be slimmed to 11 feet, and officials want to create perpendicular curbs to shorten the span of the crosswalks. Gillotti said the distance across the intersection will be slightly shorter, despite adding lanes.

A smaller pedestrian island than originally planned will give traffic turning left from Oakwood onto Washtenaw more space. That will help address the concerns of a resident who lives on the intersection’s southeast corner, officials said.

The university also will install pedestrian sensors to trigger the crosswalk signals instead of requiring pedestrians to physically push a button.

EMU and Ann Arbor Transportation Authority  officials plan to discuss the possibility of moving a Washtenaw Avenue bus stop just east of the intersection a bit more to the east.

In a separately funded project, EMU officials also are considering how to improve flow into their parking lots — specifically the McKinney lot, which sometimes backs up into Washtenaw Avenue.

Wright said he credits the current EMU administration for improvements, but said the university is still the "800-pound gorilla on the block."

Gillotti said despite some difficulties, the process has been open and positive so far. But she said communication between the city and EMU needs to remain that way.

“We would like to know what they have on the pipeline. It would help for our own planning,” she said. “College Place was really successful, and I think more of that can happen, but it's going to take sustained communication between to two entities to get to that point.”

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.