It began with a bridge project that never got off of the ground. The community was divided over a proposal to connect Hartman and Hammond Roads by building a bridge over the Boardman River Valley. Ultimately, the project failed and many people felt the process failed too.
Afterward there was still $3.3 million of federal funds for a regional transportation study and a push for a citizen led approach to land use planning. In 2005 that idea developed into the Traverse City Transportation and Land Use Study, or TC-TALUS. It's a diverse group of 29 community members and is in charge of the study's federal funding. In July TC-TALUS hired planning firm Mead & Hunt and the Grand Vision was born.
