Oakland County Complete Streets resolution & meeting

** Note that the Complete Streets meeting is Tuesday, August 9th **

Oakland County Commissioners David Woodward and Craig Covey are introducing a Complete Streets resolution tomorrow, Monday, August 8th.

From the resolution:

“…increasing active transportation (e.g. walking, bicycling, public transportation) offers the potential for improved public health, economic development, a cleaner environment, reduced transportation costs, enhanced community connections, social equity, and more livable communities. ‘Complete Streets’ can also reduce traffic congestion and reliance on foreign oil.”

No, Oakland County Government does not own, build or manage roads. That is done by the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), a completely separate county government operation for just roads.

(In Michigan, county governments by default can have health departments, cemeteries, courts, airports, parks and more – but they can’t have a road department. Roads are handled by a separate county government called a road commission. In order to consolidate these two county governments, state law needs to be changed and a county needs to become chartered — neither are easy.)

However, Oakland County government does have some pull over the RCOC. They do give them money and every two years they appoint a road commissioner.

We’ve had discussions with Commissioner Woodward over the past few years about a Complete Streets resolution, including making it a prerequisite for those county funds.

We’ve also brought up Complete Streets during the most recent road commissioner appointment process. That seemed to gain traction among the Democratic minority. It will be interesting to see whether Monday’s resolution gets votes from the Republican majority. There’s some discussion that it will.

It also is worth mentioning that we’ve been meeting with the RCOC regarding Complete Streets issues, including bike accommodations. It’s too early to say how that will play out. Current RCOC policy is to not accommodate bicycles on county roads, i.e. no bike lanes, no sharrows, no four-foot paved shoulders.

Complete Streets public meeting in Ferndale

On Tuesday, August 9th both Woodward and Covey are speaking in Ferndale about their resolution. This free meeting is at 6:30 PM at the Ferndale Public Library.

There more event information on Facebook.

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5 Responses to “Oakland County Complete Streets resolution & meeting”

  1. Streetsblog.net » Salt Lake City, Rising Transit Star Says:

    […] would still be alive had the state of New Mexico kept its promise to fully pave road shoulders. And M-Bike.orgĀ asserts that cycling continues its grassroots-level boom in Detroit. […]

  2. Ian Says:

    Your headline had the wrong date, thanks. I hope no one else was relying on your reporting…

  3. Ian Says:

    nm, introduced today. meeting tomorrow. still a bit misleading, perhaps I’ll make it but feel free to moderate my prior comment.

  4. Todd Scott Says:

    Hopefully I’ve made it a little more clear.

  5. Salt Lake City, Rising Transit Star Says:

    […] would still be alive had the state of New Mexico kept its promise to fully pave road shoulders. And M-Bike.orgĀ asserts that cycling continues its grassroots-level boom in Detroit. Interesting article? […]

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