Mayor Offers More Enforcement on 7th . . . It's a start

Email from Mayor Hiefje

I have already asked staff the pertinent questions and requested further enforcement.

I have been an advocate for lower speeds for years but it has been an uphill battle. The position of the State Police is that our limits are too low and based on their data a group of citizens who want to enforce the 80% standard all over town are threatening to sue the city. I will continue to swim upstream on this issue.

In regard to the minimum and maximum speeds allowed in the Traffic Calming Program; I was only attempting to relate the parameters as a place to start because you specifically asked about it. The program does have minimum and maximum limits but that does not mean there may not be a way to attack the problem on 7th outside of the traffic calming program. Still, we should look at the traffic counts and calming program as a place to start.

You have correctly identified two of the main problems we are trying to solve with the non-motorized effort. Commuters are a problem because they are much harder to reach than residents. The driving culture of Michigan is another. Seventy thousand people drive into Ann Arbor each day to work and they bring that culture with them. These drivers are negatively conditioned because in nearly every city in Michigan the pedestrian and cyclist are second class citizens. The city has been working with cycling and pedestrian advocates/activists to come up with a plan to solve these problems. If you have the time, I invite you to join the Alt Transportation Group.

Thank you for bringing the traffic problems on 7th to my attention.

John