Washtenaw County Freeway Crossing Non-motorized Retrofit Report

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WATS is pleased to release Washtenaw’s Freeway Crossing Non-Motorized Retrofit report.  This new resource for the County takes inventory of each freeway crossing and proposes short-term, intermediate, and optimum solutions for each crossing or type of crossing.  

WATS focuses frequently on non-motorized travel and the need for a complete transportation system.  One of the challenges to implementing an ideal transportation network is the remaining service life of existing infrastructure, in particular bridges.  Width constraints, maintenance of traffic, and high costs make bridges a challenge for deploying contemporary, complete streets oriented accommodations.  However, improvements to adjacent roads more and more frequently include non-motorized facilities, leaving a disconnect for non-motorized travelers at bridges which must be traversed in order to complete their trip.  

Roads and bridges are in various states of connectivity, ranging from fully integrated non-motorized and automobile accommodations, to partially implemented (partially connected) non-motorized features, to no provisions.  As WATS and other transportation agencies continue to plan and implement improvements to the transportation network, the Retrofit report provides a vetted suite of improvements that can be drawn on.  The recommendations provided in the report can be included at the investment level of future adjacent projects, up to and including bridge replacement.

The retrofit report evaluates each of Washtenaw’s unique crossings for:

  • Short-term improvements (bike/shared lane, warning signage)

  • Intermediate improvements (lighting, fencing, barrier)

  • Long-term recommendations (shared path, barrier separation, fencing, lighting)  

WATS’ work with local agencies to implement and secure funding for transportation improvements will be enhanced with this bridge specific guide to non-motorized transportation needs and proposed improvements.  The Retrofit report can be found at https://miwats.squarespace.com/freeway-retrofit