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(Old Mission Peninsula and Bluff Road resident Bud Stych has been on task with the Bluff Road closure situation. To update you, a portion of the north end of Bluff Road has been closed since January 2020. When I talked with Brad Kluczynski, manager of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, in August of 2020, he indicated that the road may be closed permanently, partly due to the fact that the traffic count there doesn’t justify the funds necessary to fix it. But could there be an alternative solution? Read on… jb)
It’s long past time to re-open Bluff Road. Senator Wayne Schmidt has said that there may be funds available through various Michigan programs that would pay for re-opening the failed Bluff Road.
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Please encourage Senator Schmidt to explore these possibilities by emailing him at [email protected], and asking him to continue to look into these programs.
You may also call his office at (517) 373-2413, or contact him via the form on his website here.
Read all Bluff Road closure stories and opinion pieces here.
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Leave it closed. Traffic is much lighter and SLOWER reducing the risk to our kids, grand kids, runners, walkers, bicyclists, and our pets. Has it really been that big of an inconvenience for most? Give those people who have frontage access to their property, but leave it closed to traffic. It would be cheaper and safer for all.
I agree
If Bluff Road remains closed it will result in
1. Loss of property rights of owners in that area.
2. Fire and emergency response could be slower
resulting in loss of life and property in that area.
3. There is increased pollution now due to delivery vehicles
having to travel back and forth to make deliveries.
Until the water coming from upland springs is controlled
Bluff Road will continue to deteriorate.
If you’re concerned about your part of Bluff Road being
unsafe you should contact the Road Commission and ask
them to lower the speed limit and establish a bicycle lane.
Todd Wilson has some good suggestions
1. Doesn’t have to. Already said grant them access.
2. The closure is almost dead center to the fire station from either direction, Bluewater or Smokey Hollow.
3. Pollution? Really Bud? Over Safety? I see, save the planet not the kids. Already watched, with my own eyes, my neighbors dog get mowed down because this road is 55 mph. Not willing to wait to have a person get run down too.
Changing the speed limit has been tried numerous times over the years. It’s not just “ contact the road commission”. And, it’s not just “ my part” that is dangerous. It’s all of Bluff road. It’s winding and hilly and people fly up and down it like it’s a race course.
Todd did have some interesting proposals. How many millions will it take to do that would you say? I pretty sure reducing the greenhouse gases from delivery trucks won’t come anywhere close to the ROI from a project like this.
To save costs and provide traffic calming features consider building a “yield roadway” or a road with “advisory shoulders”. Both options are Multimodal use options detailed here: https://altago.com/wp-content/uploads/Small-Town-and-Rural-Multimodal-Networks-Guide.pdf) pp 31-47 The entire route from Bluewater to Smokey Hollow would likely be a good candidate if the locals so desire. These options result in a shared roadway for pedestrians, wallkers, and cars typically requiring low speed limits and low volume traffic.
Hi Todd,
Excellent suggestion. But I’m having a problem with your “pp 31-47”. The document is a PDF, but i it section 31, p47? I can’t locate it. Or am I looking at the wrong document?
Correction: pp 25-48 of Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks, https://altago.com/wp-content/uploads/Small-Town-and-Rural-Multimodal-Networks-Guide.pdf)