Empire residents consider Village Transportation Plan
Submitted by Robin Johnson
Thoughtful public input on the first draft of a Transportation Plan for the Village of Empire is enthusiastically requested of all Empire area residents, visitors and village, township and regional stake-holders this Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Township Hall in the Village of Empire.
LSL Planning, Inc. consultants hired by the Village Planning Commission will unveil the first draft of their recommendations for the village at an Open House at 4 p.m. and will make a formal presentation at 6:30 to be followed by questions and answers. The Public is encouraged to respond to the planners suggestions in whatever format suits them: directly to the planners, on comments cards or during the Q&A forum.
LSL will continue to adjust their plan as new information and ideas come to light during the entire next day. The doors of the Township Hall will open at 11am, with informal follow-up meetings/tours with public citizens and village officials on a drop-in basis from 2-4pm. From 4-6pm LSL will hole up in the Township Hall and make final revisions to their draft plan, formally presenting it to the Planning Commission at 7 p.m. Friday night. The Planning Commission will continue to collect public comment through the month of August. The draft Transportation Plan will be posted on the village portion of the Leelanau County government website.
The Transportation Plan must include a Complete Streets Policy — a requirement of the $12,500 grant received from the Northwest Council of Governments/Grand Vision Project that paid the bulk of the expert planners services. Some of the PC’s own annual budget and a donation from the Empire Chamber of Commerce helped foot the bill.
The Transportation Plan will also address a long list of issues collected by the Planning Commission from various public input sessions throughout the year including: difficult intersections, confusing traffic signals, high road speeds, seasonal parking issues, how to effectively deal with expected increases in bicycle use-both from the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, increasing visitors and locals on foot and bicycle, motorized and non-motorized linkages across M22 and M72, sidewalks, crosswalks, trails ways … how to keep people moving freely and safely, while preserving the pleasant character of the village. It is a challenge, but a plan will enable the village to address these issues over the next few years. The village needs a good plan first and then it can figure out how to implement it.
