By Craig Manning | Dec. 14, 2022
Last week, Leelanau Ticker sister publication the Traverse City Ticker highlighted the slate of road construction projects that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has planned for the Traverse City area over the next five years. Today, we’re taking a look at MDOT projects that will impact the roads of Leelanau County between now and 2027. The projects will touch most major highways in Leelanau County, including M-22, M-72, and M-109, and will represent nearly $23 million of investment into key local thoroughfares– potentially adding everything from roundabouts to new non-motorized pathways along the way. Fall 2023, Empire-to-Glen Lake projects 2024, M-72 work
Two highways between Empire and Glen Lake will get major MDOT attention next fall, with nearly $1.7 million earmarked for improvements to M-109 and M-22. Work will consist of “micro-milling” of the existing asphalt on both roads, as well as fresh application of “an ultra-thin asphalt overlay.” In essence, the projects are intended to resurface the deteriorating top layers these two well-traveled roads. Work on M-109 will include the entire end-to-end span of the road, from the M-109/M-22 intersection to Glen Lake – roughly six and a half miles of roadway. Work on M-22 will include about five miles of the highway, from Empire to the Glen Lake Narrows. MDOT plans to maintain traffic with flaggers while construction is underway.
MDOT is eyeing the summer 2024 road construction season for work on M-72 at the very southern end of Leelanau County, including milling and resurfacing of asphalt, drainage improvements, guardrail work, and shoulder widening. The project will affect roughly 2.7 miles of M-72, from the Bugai Road/Gray Road intersection and running east to Bay Street in Traverse City. Per MDOT, M-72 traffic will be maintained with flaggers throughout the project.
2025, M-22/M-72 revamp
The biggest MDOT project on tap for northern Michigan in the next five years is the much-discussed reconstruction of Grandview Parkway in Traverse City. That project will break up into two phases. The first, on the schedule for 2024, will revamp and rebuild Grandview Parkway from 500 feet west of Division Street to the intersection with M-37/Garfield Avenue.
The second phase, planned in 2025, is the large-scale reimagining of the M-22/M-72 intersection and the gateway from Grand Traverse to Leelanau County. Starting 500 feet west of Division Street and running northwest to the M-72 intersection – and then continuing north on M-22 to Cherry Bend Road – this project will affect roughly 2.2 miles of roadway. MDOT estimates the total investment at $16.64 million, with operations to include the removal of existing concrete and asphalt pavement, the restoration of the road surface, the replacement of numerous sidewalks and nonmotorized paths, and the installation of pedestrian-friendly and ADA-compliant features.
The defining aspect is a total redesign of the M-22/M-72/Bay Street intersection, which will be revamped into a multi-lane roundabout. The design isn’t yet finalized, though MDOT held an open house in September to present a variety of potential design concepts.
Beyond the intersection, this project could also include significant investments in nonmotorized trails at the Grand Traverse/Leelanau gateway. On the Grand Traverse side, MDOT is considering the installation of a “continuous 12-foot-wide waterfront TART Trail” along Grandview Parkway, running from near Division Street to just north of the M-22/M-72 intersection. Currently, the TART Trail crosses to the south side of Grandview Parkway at Division, and runs along that side of the roadway until it connects with the Leelanau trail near the M-22/M-72 intersection. While there is also a path on the north side of the roadway, it is currently fairly narrow and much of it isn’t paved. The TART/Leelanau Trail then branches away from the roadway near Tom’s West Bay.
MDOT is also considering a new 10-foot nonmotorized trail that would follow M-22 and run along the water on the east side of the road. That trail would run from the new roundabout northward to Cherry Bend Road. Other features would be added along that stretch of roadway to make it more pedestrian friendly, including HAWK signals and pedestrian medians.
Though it isn't part of this particular project, note that another future phase of work is planned to extend M-22 improvements further north into Leelanau County, from Cherry Bend Road up to Lakeview Hills Road
Design concepts, project updates, and other details can be viewed on MDOT’sdedicated public website for the project.
2027, M-22 improvements in downtown Leland
Tentatively scheduled for the 2027 construction season, this project will reconstruct the approximately 0.8-mile stretch of M-22/N Main Street that runs through downtown Leland. The project would span from Reynolds Street in the south to Hill Street in the north. An MDOT description of the project touts “reconstruction of the existing cross section with asphalt, new curb and gutter, drainage improvements, barrier-free ramp upgrades, [and] potential safety improvements.” Design work has not yet begun on the project, but MDOT has allocated more than $3 million for the work and will be “working closely with the Leelanau Township and Leland representatives when design begins.”
Other projects
While the above list encapsulates the projects MDOT currently has on the books for Leelanau County between now and 2027, Krista Phillips, operations engineer for MDOT’s Traverse City Transportation Service Center, says other road work will likely be added to the schedule as time goes on. "We plan our larger reconstruction projects out 5-6 years into the future," she explains. "However, the smaller preventative maintenance projects – like milling and overlays, chip seals, etc.– we only plan 1-2 years into the future. So there will likely be other smaller projects that may pop up in 2025 and later. And of course, there is always ongoing construction as needed for permit work, utility work, and general maintenance work."
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