Current Strengths and Weaknesses, Future Opportunities and Threats

The following summary of individual comments compiled from the corridor tour and the visual resources photo exercise. Note the items are not presented in order of importance.

Strengths
Very rural/low development, with aesthetic views
The road condition and capacity is very good, with the exception of M-32 east of Joburg
Developers sharing access drives
Fairly large ROW available
Many lanes available in some areas
The ability to improve & enhance exists
The ability to encourage service drives and shared access drives exists
There are many businesses in Vanderbilt with good ingress/egress and off street parking
Vanderbilt has a very nice Memorial Park & a new park with children's play facilities
There is a good preservation of the older downtown area on East M-32 in Gaylord
Open space is preserved
There is a good transition from office buildings to residential along M-32 East
There is a good frontage road started on M-32 West
The Waters industrial development is a good use of the land
There are shared drives on M-32 West
There is a service drive at Cellular One on M-32 west; need more of these & to extend this one
Development (so far) fits in with good management/planning; good aesthetics with open space & farms
There exists adequate ROW to have access management
There exists a strong potential for streetscaping
The businesses are strengths
There is a warm sense of community downtown
Upgraded access ordinance is a good 'stop-gap'
There is a large ROW to allow raised medians
There are many pleasurable views along the corridors
There are many open undeveloped areas
Governments & agencies want to work together on these corridors

Weaknesses
There are large areas with few or no trees
Wide lanes are conducive to faster traffic movements
There are a high number of driveways in close proximity to each other
There is a bottleneck at the I-75 and M-32 interchange
There are limited sight distances
There is a lot of traffic at the baseball field entrance during the summer season
A streetscape plan is needed for the community of Joburg
A flashing light is needed at Krys & McCoy Road
Need to enlarge the right lane to increase the left turn lane at I-75 & Main Street
Need to redesign Old-27 North of the City
There is a conflict between open space/farms and housing
Clear cut areas are ugly
The big beautiful pines in Vanderbilt were chopped by Consumers Power
There are too many driveways on M-32 West
Otsego Lake needs preservation measures
Downtown Waters needs enhancement
Land on Old-27 South, near the I-75 interchange has no access possibilities for development
Bagley Township hall is situated in an area that may experience future highway development
There is unlimited access in Joburg
There are too many driveways on Old-27 South
There is congestion on Old-27 South near K-Mart
Old-27, north of the City, should be 4 lanes
There is unsafe access at the intersection of Old-27 & Johnson Rd; especially left turns
Unsafe intersection at Old-27 & N. Otsego Lake Drive
Busy intersection where S. Otsego Avenue (Old-27) meets Commerce Blvd; left turns are difficult; drivers use the middle TWLTL as a merge lane
The M-32/I-75 N. ramp has left turn lane too short, turn traffic blocks eastbound lane
At M-32 & Meecher Rd, left turns are difficult
At M-32 & Webster Rd, a building blocks sight distance to the north for traffic entering M-32
Access management is needed in Joburg, the City, and the Townships
There are unsightly buildings in Vanderbilt
There are too many driveways on M-32, West of I-75
The potential to develop M-32 East is very high
There are access management concerns
Both I-75 interchanges need work/upgrades
West M-32 seems like another town
There are too many access drives on M-32 east of I-75 and west of I-75
It is too difficult for pedestrians & bicyclists to cross either Old-27 or M-32 downtown
There is a perceived congestion problem at Livingston & Old-27 twice a day

Opportunities
Traffic calming opportunities exist by using center lane for green median with turnouts where needed
Increase the use of site plan reviews to limit driveways and promote driveway sharing
Parallel access drives (frontage roads) may be possible within existing ROW's
Preservation of large wooded areas may be possible
It will be possible for new subdivisions to have their own internal access driveways rather than individual houses accessing the primary highway
By-pass of the City is possible for through traffic, relieving congestion downtown
Medians are possible
More streetscapes possible
Service drives are possible
More parks should be encouraged
The Vanderbilt Dangerous Building Ordinance may be used to remove or restore unsightly buildings
Vanderbilt has applied for NPP funds which may include replacement of 37 trees on Main & Old-27
Farm land is available for protection
There is farm land along M-32 East
It is possible to keep the "open atmosphere" by continued planning
It is possible to streetscape in 'Joburg'
A parallel access road (frontage road) is possible on Old-27 South and M-32 West, to share driveways
Old 27 North is mostly rural now, so growth can be controlled
The agricultural areas need to be preserved
Cluster development would encourage shared drives
There is a 'country character' that can be preserved by encouraging builders to build homes off the road
M-32 could be straightened near Vienna Corners
The use of boulevards can be encouraged where possible
The use of green landscaped medians are possible
Make the corridor pedestrian-friendly where possible
Limiting driveways is possible with preservation work
Frontage roads are possible west of I-75
Growth allows a chance for change
More median dividers are possible
Frontage roads are possible with the wide ROW's
Medians are possible in the downtown areas
Safe pedestrian crossing facilities are possible in the downtown areas
It is possible to keep the committee partners together to implement the objectives of this study

Threats
There is continued residential lot development directly on the primary roads
There will be increased traffic on a by-pass route
There will be continued commercial development
There is a removal of trees with no replanting of greenbelts in front of developments
There is a poor use of land occurring
The low-density use of the land along M-32 East is a problem
There is too little planning for the mixed use development that is occurring
There are too many traffic problems
There is a loss of open space and farm land occurring
There is a loss of farmland to development
Businesses oppose access management controls
Too many access drives are allowed
Desirable traditional buildings and infrastructure are converted to newer designs
There is continued strip development along the corridors
Increasing traffic fuels more congestion
People are afraid of change [when trying to improve conditions]
There are too many curb cuts on M-32 West
Vehicles going to a business next door are forced to go out onto the highway again (unconnected parking)
There is little consideration for esthetics such as landscaping when development occurs
Businesses are almost inaccessible to pedestrians and bicyclists
Parking areas have no physical controls for internal circulation, causing random vehicle movements