Editor’s note: An inaccurate version of this story was published Monday night. This is a corrected version of the article, which notes the commission’s vote does not reverse a previous decision made by the commission. The headline was also corrected with this article.
After months of deliberation and stockpiles of public input, the East Lansing Transportation Commission is sticking with its original recommendation to convert Hagadorn Road from four lanes to a three-lane cross section with designated bike lanes between Grand River Avenue and Haslett Road.
The East Lansing Transportation Commission voted 4-3 against the proposal on Monday at City Hall, 410 Abbott Road, but it wasn’t enough to rescind the commission’s 5-4 vote last October to proceed with the conversion.
The proposal would have needed at least five votes against – or a two-thirds majority vote – in order to reverse the previous recommendation, said Todd Sneathen, East Lansing’s director of public works.
The controversial decision drew an attendance of about 30 concerned residents, and many of them voiced their opinions.
The commission’s recommendation appeased many safety advocates, as well as pedestrians and bicyclists, who feel the conversion will make it easier for them to get around.
“I grew up on Hagadorn,” said Scott Bauries, a member of the commission who voted in favor of the proposal. “I’ve watched the changes in traffic, speed and accidents, and we need it to be a safer route than it currently is.”
But opponents of the proposal said the conversion would result in extremely long traffic delays and would make it virtually impossible for people to turn out of driveways and side streets during peak traffic hours.
“We don’t want to be cutting off a major flow of traffic towards campus and toward the new developments going on around in downtown East Lansing,” said Doug Pratt, vice chairman of the commission.
When the commission voted in favor of the conversion last October, the split vote discouraged the East Lansing City Council. The council refused to adopt the proposal until more research was conducted and more responses from the public were heard.
To meet the council’s demands, the city hired DLZ Michigan Inc., a third-party technical analysis firm, six months after the vote to evaluate the proposed conversion while working closely with 16 resident stakeholders.
DLZ revealed its evaluation at a transportation commission meeting in August, Sneathen said.
“They put together a recommendation that basically said that there’s some additional benefits with regard to converting the three-lane option for pedestrians and bicyclists,” Sneathen said. “But they had some pretty significant concerns about side-street delay and people who would be exiting their driveways.”
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