The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Bypass revival brought about by township interest
By Sandi Kasha, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 12, 2007
Despite most village residents' aversion to a bypass around downtown Dexter, officials at the Washtenaw County Road Commission say they won't let the negativity deter their long-term plans for mitigating traffic congestion in the area.
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The bypass, also known as the Parker Road extension, may be getting negative feedback from village residents, but officials in neighboring townships, such as Dexter and Lima, say they want to explore the possibility.
The Lima Township Board adopted a resolution 4-1 Monday supporting further discussion regarding the issue. Trustee Greg McKenzie was the lone dissenting vote.
The Dexter Township Board unanimously adopted the same resolution March 20.
"These traffic issues are regional issues and they should be discussed in a regional forum," said Dexter Township Supervisor Pat Kelly.
The bypass is expected to alleviate traffic congestion caused by roughly 18,000 vehicles that travel along Main Street, Island Lake and Dexter-Pinckney roads, said Steve Puuri, managing director of the Road Commission.
"The proposed road would provide an alternate method of getting folks to their destinations more efficiently and quickly," Kelly said. "If the new Main Street Bridge is constructed as a three-lane structure there is and will be an ever increasing need for an alternate route around the village."
Webster Township doesn't have the issue on its agenda, said Trustee John Westman.
"It doesn't really have anything to do with Webster since that's west of where we are," he said. "Most of the Webster traffic goes east."
Scio Township Supervisor Charlie Nielsen said that Scio board hasn't really looked into the issue.
"The Road Commission hasn't really approached us regarding the situation," he said. "We're not looking at it presently, but that doesn't mean we won't possibly explore it in the future."
The Road Commission proposed the bypass 10 years ago with the intent of relieving traffic congestion by directing vehicles on an alternative route besides Main Street. The idea is to allow traffic to get to Interstate 94 without going through downtown.
The approximately mile-long, two-lane bypass would have extended Parker Road north and west, connecting it to Dexter-Pinckney Road by cutting behind Gordon Hall, the village founder's homestead.
For the most part, village residents and merchants don't support the bypass. They say it would ruin the village's rural charm and would hurt downtown business by directing traffic away from Main Street.
Public scrutiny and lack of funds forced the Road Commission to put the proposal on the back burner until a Jan. 29 public hearing when the Road Commission attempted to revive the concept.
It was apparent at the meeting that most residents and village officials weren't warming up to the idea of extending Parker Road, so the bypass was postponed, Puuri said.
Puuri said an environmental assessment would be required before the Road Commission could make any further decisions regarding the bypass.
"An environmental assessment is a federal highway administration process that studies both traffic and environmental impacts," he said.
The assessment, which would cost the Road Commission roughly $200,000, is a process of identifying and evaluating other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made, Puuri said.
The Road Commission would pay a portion of the money and would look to the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study and neighboring municipalities to contribute.
The Road Commission requested the assessment from WATS for a regional transportation study in the Dexter area.
He added that the purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision-makers consider environmental impacts before deciding whether to proceed with new projects.
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