(Traverse City, Michigan) — A Land Use and Transportation Study for the six county Grand Traverse Region is underway, federally funded by a $1.3 million contract the local TC-TALUS group approved with Mead & Hunt and its world-class team of experts (Study Team). While the region has undergone a number of past studies which have laid a valuable foundation, the Study Team believes the scope of this new study, the process they will undertake and the focus on implementing final plan recommendations give this new study a significantly high probability of success.

On Wednesday, August 22, the Study Team announced it has begun collecting and analyzing data about the region and will begin conducting a wide array of public involvement techniques including interviews, polling and public workshops. On September 11, the Study Team will host public information sessions about the project at the Waterfront Conference Center in Traverse City. From 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. that day, the Team will repeat a brief 15-minute presentation every half-hour, permitting a 15-minute question-and-answer session with Team members during each repetition.

Mid-October is tentatively scheduled as the first of a series of hands-on visualization and scenario planning workshops for the public. This first one will be held at the Park Place Hotel, where the team hopes to involve hundreds of citizens. Workshop attendees will be split into small groups, provided with visualization tools and challenged to decide where new growth should and should not occur within the Study Area, the general form that new growth should take, and the type of transportation system needed to serve it.

The mission of this new study, expected to require two years to complete, is to provide a framework the region can use for land and transportation over the next 50 years. According to the Study Team, this means everything from new/wider roads, roundabouts, bridges, rail service, bus service, walkways, bike paths, by-passes and other issues will be on the table for discussion.

Key to the success of the study will be the citizen input sought by the Study Team. "We will be basing our recommendations on the desires of the citizens in this area and on the evaluations and modeling of their ideas," said Doug Christensen, Project Manager from Mead & Hunt. "We want to hear from every citizen, every business, every governmental body and every stakeholder group in the area."

Aiding Mead & Hunt in this project are several nationally-known experts, including Robert Grow, a recognized Visioning expert and John Fregonese of Fregonese Associates, a firm specializing in land-use and transportation planning, and conducting public "scenario planning" workshops. "Interviews and surveys of local people help us define the values of the region," said John Fregonese. "Public workshops are then conducted to help us explore desirable visions for the future of the area and formulate a strategy for accomplishing those visions. Only after such steps can planning, funding and building begin."