I am supporting my constituents who in countless emails have voiced their fears that the City wants to close Huron River Drive. I have not been contacted by a single person in favor of closing it. (edit on May 3rd, - I am now starting to hear from people who want it closed.)
The City hired Beckett & Raeder, Inc. to conduct this survey (download it) about alternatives.
11 users commented in " Don’t Close Huron River Drive "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWell, I’ll buck the trend and say I’m in favor of closing Huron River Drive–at least the 1.2 mile stretch that is being considered for closing. I rarely drive on it but, when I do, it’s hard to enjoy it because I’m worried about bicyclists
There was a good discussion about the proposal on Arbor Update http://arborupdate.com/article/1489/huron-river-drive-public-workshop
There was some speculation there that the reason for proposing the closing had to do with funding. I think it would help the discussion tremendously to have some actual data. How many cars use that section of the road on a daily basis? What is the cost of repairing it? What are the costs of the various alternatives? The city just really hasn’t provided enough information for any of us to have other than a knee-jerk reaction to the proposal. Is any additional information forthcoming?
By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, I live in the 5th ward–so I’m not one of your consitutents.
I agree with Kathleen. Unless the stretch is reworked in such a way as to accommodate both bikers and drivers, it will remain unsafe for cyclists and a liability for drivers. Closing the stretch may be the only permanent, economical way to fix the problems.
That said, if the road were to be repaved, it would be much easier for bikes and cars to share — right now, the potholes make it difficult to cycle anywhere other than the center of the lane. Have you taken the ride out Huron River Drive recently? The edges are crumbling, the sides are full of pot holes, and the right-of-way has been eroded.
I live and vote in your ward.
My wife Doris and I reside at 1265 Lincolnshire Lane just off Warrington Road. I am a lawyer and my wife a retired educator.
We are very disturbed about the possibility of closing a one mile+ stretch of Huron River Drive to vehicle traffic. I want you to know unequivocally the great importance of this road to me, my wife and other residents of this First Ward area. I do not exaggerate when I call it one of my lifelines. It is my lifeline to travel, to the safety of my neighborhood and, as important, to bring beauty and peace into my everyday life.
As to travel, I drive this beautiful road virtually every day of my life to and from work via M 14 and US 23, recreation on weekends (tennis club), downtown and the northwest side, the airport, U of M Hospital, etc. It is by far the easiest and quickest route to all these places. Any other routes are probably 5-15 minutes longer, winding through residential, school, etc. neighborhoods. And that is in the spring and summer - in the winter with snow, the drive would be even longer and more dangerous.
As to safety, those 2500 cars a day that use Huron River Drive will have to end up using Maple (think of the traffic mess when combined with the new high school); or Warrington (directly through our neighborhood) to Newport (terribly sighted corner at Warrington and Newport); or possibly Foster to Newport Road. This traffic would then go down 2 lane hilly Newport Road (sometimes not negotiable in icy weather), past at least 2 schools (Wines and Forsythe) probably to turn onto Miller (which is also a difficult intersection) or possibly Sunset. All of this would require driving through residential neighborhoods with kids, schools, no sidewalks, etc. - a traffic and safety mess.
As to walkers and bikers, walkers have plenty of lovely places to walk in that area, Bird Park, Barton Nature Area to Barton Dam Park, etc., and I understand from my biker friends that they have no real problem with the cars. In fact, cars, bikers and walkers have been able to safely co-exist there for 50 years or so.
I happened to drive one way or the other on Huron River Drive 5 times during the a.m. and p.m. of this past Saturday and Sunday. Even on this Spring weekend, I counted more than twice the number of cars passing me in the other direction than the total number of walkers and bicyclists combined. And the disparity is clearly even greater on weekdays.
As to the condition of the road, we’ve lived with this for many years and still have needed, used and loved Huron River Drive. While a sleek smooth road would be great, this sometimes rough road is far better than no road at all, and the roughness is more than made up for by the beauty and convenience it provides.
Frankly as important to me as anything, is the beauty I would lose not being able to drive down this stretch of Huron River Drive. It starts and ends my day with loveliness and peace. There are few scenes more beautiful than driving down this road when it is arched by the green tree leaves of summer, or by snow covered branches on a winter morning. (Incidentally, how many bikers, walkers do you think will be using this road during the snow, slush, cold of the winter months, or on one of our many rainy days.)
I know these opinions are not mine alone. Despite the short time a grass roots organization has been rapidly coming together and I’m sure you will be seeing and hearing from a lot more people.
Lawrence W. Sperling
This letter is to express my concerns about considerations for the future uses of Huron River Drive. It is my understanding that the road is in poor condition and that because of the topography in that area, it is costly to maintain in a suitable driving condition. I am aware that one proposal being considered is to close a portion of the road to auto traffic restricting its use to bicycles and pedestrians only. I am opposed to a plan to close the road for such a purpose.
I live on the northwest side of Ann Arbor and use Huron River Drive daily. I regularly drive on M-14 and it is the easiest access for me. I can attest to the poor condition of the road. I have lived in this area for 13 years as well and can also attest to the continuing deterioration of the road despite the maintenance efforts over the years. I am not knowledgeable of engineering but the challenges are obvious that the grade, the trees and the water runoff along this road present to the Planning and Engineering Departments within the city.
During the 13 years, that I have lived in this area, the city has approved, in addition to my own subdivision, 3 large subdivisions in the area proximate to Huron River Dr. In addition, several homes in the area that were once considered township have been added to the city tax rolls. The city cannot approve development on this scale and not expect to make significant improvements/expenditures for infrastructure support. The increase cash flow for support and maintenance of Huron River Drive should have been a foreseeable infrastructure support and should, in part, be funded by the increase tax revenue from the development in this area.
The grade of the entire area, not just Huron River Drive, makes transportation and the roads a challenge. If a portion of Huron River Drive closes, it will likely significantly increase the traffic on the Newport/Maple/Miller roads. The topography on Newport Road is not much better suited than Huron River Drive to widening and increased traffic. There are significant risky turns in the road, limited shoulder, and low areas that are prone to water runoff. There is at least one culvert that runs under Newport Road to help accommodate the runoff. P erhaps this would be an option on Huron River Drive? If closing Huron River Drive to autos is the option chosen, will we be back in a few years considering how to deal with the new problems now created on Newport Road? There are residences along the entire length of Newport Road and the impact of changes to that road will be great and foreseeable.
I am also concerned about forcing more traffic toward Maple Road and the M-14 ramps. The school district undertook a traffic study in the area to maximally protect the residents and school age drivers that will be in the area in the future. Have these studies also considered the impact of closing Huron River Drive?
If Huron River Drive closes to auto traffic, who will maintain it? Parks and Rec? The Road Commission? It would seem a questionable use of road maintenance dollars for the maintenance of a non-auto road. Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas have many beautiful parks and trails already available to bikers and pedestrians. We are already taxed for funds directly targeted to our Parks.
Lastly, the city has purchased the former girl scout camp area off the HRD. What about rerouting HRD up this grade and across to Bird Rd? I’m sure the costs would be significant, but, all options have costs associated. The long term benefits may be worth the short term higher costs. The environment/ecosystem of the Huron River would benefit from moving the road further away and it could probably serve the needs of bikers and autos as well.
I appreciate the time and effort all city officials, employees and volunteers are giving to this effort. Likewise, I appreciate the opportunity for public input. I support your efforts and hope for success as you tackle this difficult transportation issue.
There are numerous roads and areas where the conditions of use for both bikers and automobiles are tenuous at best throughout AA. If we closed all those roads AA would become a traffic nightmare. No…arbitrarily closing a road is not the civic way of dealing with an infrastructure problem. Huron River Drive (HRD) is an integral part of the AA infrastructure and enjoyed by bikers and motorist alike. This multi-use has been coexisting for many decades with the road being maintained to insure safety and comfort. Now is the normal reoccurring maintenance evolution for the road to be reconstructed so it can continue many decades more of multi-use.
The HRD road has deteriorated to present condition because of two root causes. One is that it has not been properly reconstructed over the many decades (just resurfaced). Second the drainage system on the sides of the road has not been maintained. This has caused flooding onto and undermining of the roadway.
Closing the roadway will have the following detrimental effects to AA and the surrounding community.
 Causing approx 2,300 plus carsa day to divert into surrounding residential communities.
 The main diverting roadway (Newport Road) has three open schools. These school zones and the school crossings will be put into a more dangerous environment with increased commuting traffic.
 The second main diverting roadway (North Maple) will have a high school (new). This school zone and crossings will also be put into a more dangerous environment with increased commuting traffic (added onto the already increased high school traffic).
 These local residential neighborhoods which will experience increased traffic will now be submitted to increased noise pollution (Motorcycle clubs accessing the drive) and air pollution from the passing vehicles.
 Increased carbon foot print (pollution/greenhouse gases) of AA. The diverted traffic will now have to burn more fuel because: increased distance to travel, increased time of vehicle burning fuel because of l many more stops (idling) involved with school zones and residential neighborhoods. The addition of the diverted traffic will also slow down the normal pattern of effected neighborhoods causing those cars to burn more fuel.
I am in favor of not closing HRD and but to reconstruct the roadway properly and allow continued safe use by bikers and automobiles for many more decades to come. Question of $$. Well I am sure that can find it some place to properly maintain our very unique road for the future.
I live in Ward 1. I want to call your attention to something that Liz Rolla, Becket & Raeder and those who advocate closing Huron River Drive to motor vehicles have failed to consider. They have failed to take into account the safety of our city’s children. The children walk, bike and play in the streets of the neighborhoods around Huron River Drive, Warrington, Newport Rd, Sunset Rd. et al.. They walk and bike to and from 3 schools on Newport road that are within 1/2 mile of each other. They walk and bike to and from each other’s homes when they play. I have an 8 year old, and in my neighborhood there is no children’s playground nor is there a children’s park. There are no sidewalks. There are little or no shoulders on these smaller residential roads. What is going to happen to these children when 14,000+ cars are diverted into the same streets where the children are playing, walking and cycling? Most drivers will be looking for shortcuts in and out of town, to and from their work, trying to navigate residential streets that are full of children playing day and evening, especially on weekends.
Children have the right to be safe in the neighborhoods where they live, play and go to school. All of us adults, especially city officials, have the legal obligation to protect them. I understand that some environmentalists wish to protect the plants on Huron River Drive that grow along the side of the road. I also understand that some cyclists want to convert the road into their own paved bike path. Why aren’t they concerned about the lives of the children that play in the surrounding streets? It is unconscionable for people to sacrifice the safety of our children in the name of preservation and recreational cycling.
I strongly believe the running/walking/cycling traffic should be awarded their own path! Preferably on the river side of the road and closer to the water. Clearly this would be an expensive option and I realize there are a couple of places where there is not much room but it could even be a wooden walkway like that along the river at Barton Drive and M14. Though many would argue that a riverside path would despoil the natural setting even more than will be necessary to redo the road, for the future of the area and the draw and access it will provide, it would be a tremendous asset. Use of the park area would show a tremendous increase–think of the path along the river from the Arb to and through Gallup and how popular that has been.
Invest now! Surely there are some parks funds and grants available to help w/ such a project.
Ryan Dybdahl
Folks who want to keep Huron River Drive open have shown me other ways people can bicycle through the area. Someone way want to use a web tool called “bikely” to map out one or more routes. Here’s a link done by an Ann Arborite for a bike route in another part of town.
I don’t think this discussion would be happening if it were not “all about the dollars.”
How about thinking about Huron River Drive as an asset, rather than a liability–isn’t there something that can be done jointly with parks, the road commission, and the city–to construct bike and pedestrian paths, and make HRD into a destination? The road is absolutely crucial access to several subdivisions north of Ann Arbor. As for the Newport/Maple bypass, I agree with Larry Sperling–when the high school opens, traffic on Newport will become a twice-daily nightmare.
I am wondering why the city continues to pursue possibly closing HRD between Bird and Main. The survey (link on this web site) done by the city on April 21 at the HRD site clearly indicates that the community wants the road kept open. Why would you ask the citizens for their input and then continue to consider this option. i am dumbfounded by the waste of time and tax dollars when the community has spoken and asked for this road to be kept open. I hope every council person has read the survey and thoughtful comments posted. There is no doubt as to the wishes of the Ann Arbor community.
I am concerned that Council led by our administrator is setting the stage to sell our park land by saying it is not making money and not needed and we need the money to pay the $54million plus $20million for the new city hall and parking structure.
Leslie and Huron Hills golf courses are in the PROS plan and recognized as parks used for golf, cross country and snow shoeing, sleiding, and the woods of Huron Hills are used by mountain bikers, dog walkers and those who enjoy the peace and beauty of a walk in the woods. The paths and grounds are beautifully maintained by NAP. I think those that want to delist these parks and sell — like in Novi –have lost their sense of values and integrity. Our park lands are not a bank account for the city to sell to developers to cover our green space with bricks and black top. We need to let them know that their actions lack honesty and go counter to the life style and beauty of our community. we have these lands set aside for over 50 years and they are there to pass on to the next generations. NOT FOR SALE.
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