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    Melinda Lombardi
July 24, 2009

Franke Road extension may ease woes

By Sheri McWhirter

TRAVERSE CITY -- Division Street can be a bit intimidating for some motorists who try to turn either direction off 11th Street.

It's a particularly frequent complaint for motorists leaving the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. Traverse City and Garfield Township officials have heard the chorus and are working to create a new south entrance to alleviate congestion and safety concerns.

Traverse City commissioners this month unanimously approved design recommendations for a new south entrance off Silver Lake Road, an extension of Franke Road. Plans were submitted to the state, and local officials now must wait until state officials decide whether to sign over property needed to build the new road.

"The purpose of creating the plan was so we could get the property transferred," said R. Ben Bifoss, city manager.

A long-term expectation is the new road will be built, he said.

That's good news, said Melinda Lombardi, owner of Capelli's Salon at the Commons.

"It would be lovely. Sometimes Division can be so busy," she said. "It's scary to turn onto Division from 11th."

The Commons is the site of the former state psychiatric hospital and straddles Traverse City and Garfield Township. A number of specialty shops and eateries have taken root in the old hospital buildings, and the site also is home to the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District building and Munson Medical Center.

The main entrance is at 11th Street, but there's also access through Elmwood Avenue and Medical Campus Drive.

A new south entrance is expected to improve access and reduce traffic safety concerns. A sign at the corner of Division and 14th streets would be well-placed to direct motorists to a new, more convenient and safer way into the burgeoning commercial district, Lombardi said.

Eleanor Caluory, manager of the Silvertree Deli and Gourmet Market at the Commons, also thinks a new entrance will improve access. She wants traffic to be kept at a calm 25 mph, though.

"It's a pedestrian area, so 25 mph makes sense to me," she said.

One concern is about possible cut-through traffic onto neighborhood streets from drivers who want to avoid other congested streets. Elmwood Avenue resident Grace Glynn is convinced more cut-through traffic will filter into her neighborhood, but she's not overly bothered by the prospect.

"They already do. On this corner, I have traffic no matter what," she said.

Designs for the new road are meant to keep traffic moving slowly, officials said.

"It's going to be designed to encourage only traffic destined for the Commons campus and not be a cut-through," said Benjamin Marentette, deputy city clerk and executive director of the city and township's joint recreational authority.

Final design plans and project financing will be completed once it's known whether the state will hand over the needed property to extend Franke Road. Possible funding sources include brownfield redevelopment dollars, state transportation grants and local money, Bifoss said.

A price tag is not yet known, and neither is a timeline for construction completion, said Mayor Michael Estes.

"I would love to shoot for the end of the summer of 2010, but it may be summer 2011," he said.

Both final designs and project financing must be considered and approved by the recreational authority and both city and township leaders before construction begins, Bifoss said.

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