Wright Street CHANGES

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MARQUETTE - The Marquette City Planning Commission Tuesday reaffirmed its decision to change a portion of Wright Street from four lanes to three lanes.

Some residents and city officials are concerned about the lane reconfiguration, which is part of the Wright Street resurfacing project from Industrial Parkway to Ontario Avenue.

Opponents of the reconfiguration say it will create travel delays, make it harder for vehicles to enter Wright Street from driveways and won't be able to handle the same traffic volume as four lanes.

The resurfacing project includes two lanes of traffic and a center turn lane. In addition, two four-foot wide bike lanes will be on each side of the road.

When discussed at a recent Marquette City Commission meeting, city commissioners sent the issue back to the planning commission, instructing planning commissioners to address concerns over traffic capacity, seasonal use of the road and safety.

The planning commission voted 6-1 to reaffirm its decision to the city commission and include its reasoning. Commissioner Wayne Premeau was the lone vote against it, with commissioners Natasha Koss and Travis Hongisto absent.

Premeau said he was worried about the proximity of the bike lanes to truck traffic on Wright Street, which he said will likely increase in the near future. He also worried about traffic snarls.

"I can see truckers shifting down several times to nothing because things happen on the road," he said.

Marquette resident Lou Chappell, who lives off of Wright Street, said traffic moves through that area rapidly and he worries about emergency vehicles getting through on three lanes.

"It is the primary east-west route for the city police, for the sheriff's department, the state police when they are going up to or coming down from Big Bay. There's fire trucks, there's ambulances," he said.

To address concerns, City Engineer Keith Whittington gave a presentation about the pros and cons of a three-lane road.

Whittington said another name for the center turn lane on a three-lane road is an "emergency lane" because many emergency vehicles drive on it, finding it easier than waiting for vehicles to move to the curb.

He said with a four-lane road, drivers use the passing lane as a left hand turning lane. This sometimes results in a rear-end collision with another car approaching too fast from behind. That danger would be significantly reduced with a dedicated turning lane, he said.

He cited the Washington Street reconstruction, which changed a four-lane road to three lanes. Whittington said police data shows there was a 30 percent reduction in traffic crashes on Washington after it was changed.

He said a three-lane road is safer for pedestrians since they have fewer lanes to cross and they can use the center turn lane as a sort of refuge in heavy traffic.

Three-lane roads also calm traffic, he said.

"With four lanes you tend to get aggressive drivers who are changing lanes to pass slower vehicles," he said, adding that three lanes will not allow drivers to travel at excessive speeds.

The project will not extend west of Ontario, meaning there will still be a passing lane going up the hill toward Marquette Township, Whittington said, so vehicles can pass slower-moving trucks.

He said the reconfiguration will slow traffic down an average of 2 to 5 mph. He said calculations show that it may add about 1 minutes to travel time.

The traffic capacity of a three-lane road is nearly identical to a four-lane road, he said. A 2008 traffic count on Wright Street showed an average of 7,600 vehicles a day. Even if truck traffic were significantly increased, Whittington said studies show a three-lane road can successfully accommodate up to 25,000 vehicles a day.

Planning Commissioner Steve Lawry, who lives off of Wright Street, said traffic is most dense between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and drivers who are trying to enter Wright from driveways will have to wait longer with a three-lane road.

However, Whittington said a traffic signal - planned for the intersection of Wright Street and the McClellan Avenue extension - should create gaps in traffic flow.

Whittington said the bike lanes could be used for extra snow storage in the winter but Lawry said that wasn't possible. He said if plow trucks don't plow from curb to curb, snow will block stormsewers and roads will become flooded.

Wright Street resident Bill Sved said mail trucks and other delivery trucks often stop and deliver mail or packages on Wright Street. He said that would conflict with bicyclists in the bike lane.

Commissioner Bob O'Neill said that problem already exists without bike lanes. He said bicyclists currently use Wright Street and bike lanes will at least provide space for them to use.

Whittington said if the reconfiguration does not work, it's relatively cheap to fix it. Since the resurfacing project will not change the width of the street, he said the road could be repainted at a cost of 20 cents to 60 cents a foot.