ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials are still weighing the pros and cons of taking over some of the major state-controlled roadways in the city.
That includes state highway trunklines like North Main Street, Huron Street/Jackson Avenue and Washtenaw Avenue where the city has considered the Michigan Department of Transportation an obstacle to implementing design changes.
“These are areas of our community where we are unable to effect change ... because MDOT owns these roadways,” Mayor Christopher Taylor said, saying the community’s aspirations have “floundered on the shoals of MDOT’s conservatism.”
But a $160,000 proposal to hire a consultant to study the costs and benefits of transferring control to the city was blocked this week when City Council voted 7-4 in favor of it, coming up one vote short of the eight votes needed.
Though the mayor and his allies supported it, the measure was blocked by the four members of the council minority faction who questioned the costs: Kathy Griswold, Jeff Hayner, Elizabeth Nelson and Ali Ramlawi.
“We need to get our house in order before we start talking about taking over or even looking at taking over more assets in the community,” said Griswold, D-2nd Ward.
The four are leaving office in November, so the proposal could come back later this fall after the new council is seated, when Taylor and his allies may have total control of council.
Ann Arbor officials have long considered MDOT an obstacle to making state highway trunklines in the city safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists. Plans the city has had for several years for new and improved crossings, lower speeds and bicycle lanes have never been taken up by MDOT, which has cited limited state funding.
Frustrated, some city leaders now think getting MDOT out of the picture may be the way to go. But that means the city would become responsible for the large costs of maintaining the roads, a burden MDOT currently shoulders.
Council members against moving in that direction argued it would cost a fortune and it’s not worth it, noting the city already can’t afford to maintain its own crumbling city streets and they’d rather put the money proposed for the study toward fixing failing infrastructure or improving crosswalk lighting.
“I’m not a fan of studies,” Hayner said.
But how the numbers would shake out if the city took over state trunklines requires further study, other officials said, arguing it’s worth getting more information.
The transfer of any state corridors to the city would come with a payment from MDOT to take them over, and the increase in street miles under city control would come with a corresponding increase in the city’s annual share of state road dollars, City Engineer Nick Hutchinson said.
Ann Arbor officials note it was done in Kalamazoo a few years ago, with the City Commission there approving it as a way to make improvements to roads that run through the downtown and neighborhoods, and with MDOT agreeing to pay Kalamazoo $11.7 million to cover maintenance for 10 years.
“Many in our community might say that we can’t afford not to take ownership of these, given what the cost of not being able to control the design of these roadways has meant for our community,” said Council Member Erica Briggs, D-5th Ward.
Briggs and other Ann Arbor council members in support of the study mentioned dangerous road conditions and serious crashes and emphasized the importance of pedestrians and cyclists being able to get around safely.
Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward, mentioned conditions on Washtenaw Avenue where children are going to and from schools like Tappan Middle School and Angell Elementary and where she’s heard residents beg for slowing down cars.
“Every year they see cars up on the sidewalk, up on people’s front lawns, and they’ve begged, and it’s a terrible feeling to be completely helpless as a council member when you know that it really is in the hands of MDOT,” she said.
It would be well worth the money to take over MDOT’s roads and make improvements if it saves even one life, said Council Member Jen Eyer, D-4th Ward.
Briggs mentioned a Salvation Army food bank on Huron Street, near where MDOT eliminated a pedestrian crossing in recent years, as another unsafe area. She has watched as people still cross the four-lane roadway with food in hand to get to the bus stop, and the speeding and dangerous driver behavior on the corridor is a huge concern to residents, she said.
“We have countless times asked MDOT at this location and many locations across our community to please partner with us and to please create safe streets for our community,” she said. “In fact, MDOT has a complete streets policy, and so it’s a little bit unconscionable that they aren’t following this policy.”
North Main Street, a major gateway into the city and downtown, is another corridor where city leaders have been trying for a decade to get MDOT to implement changes.
Council Member Lisa Disch, D-1st Ward, suggested there’s still a chance the city could negotiate with MDOT to make design improvements on North Main — not only reducing speed, but also adding bike lanes and making it more of a pedestrian-friendly, entrepreneurial zone, rather than just a highway.
Raymond Hess, the city’s transportation manager, said it’s his understanding MDOT plans to make repairs to North Main in 2026, but it’s just going to be another status-quo resurfacing, though there’s a possibility improvements for pedestrians and cyclists could be added if the city funds them.
Griswold suggested the city try to do more to negotiate with MDOT, rather than fully take over the roadways.
Expressing doubts about the effectiveness of trying to reduce speeds, Hayner, D-1st Ward, said they’re state trunklines for a reason and a 25-mph speed limit on Pontiac Trail, a city street, doesn’t keep cars from speeding there.
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