September 17, 2009
The SEMCOG General Assembly will soon be asked to approve Direction2035 – our region’s new long-range transportation plan. This plan will serve to direct the expenditure of scarce federal transportation funds through 2035. This is always an interesting process to go through – allocating not enough dollars to an ever expanding list of competing needs – and will be particularly difficult over the next several years until our economy begins to rebound. Consider your own budgeting process at home – there are always more things to do than dollars available to do them. How do you decide to allocate your limited resources? You wish that you could do everything on your list, but you can’t. Sometimes there are also disagreements between people living in the house as to what needs to be done first among several good projects.
Well, we experience all of the above while working with the many local units of governments, the Michigan Department of Transportation, transit agencies, and county road commissions. In addition, we have the public weighing in with their opinions and wants also. In the end, we came to an agreement on how to spend these dollars in a way that addresses the most critical needs in Southeast Michigan and maximizes benefits. We invite you to view the plan at www.semcog.org/Long-RangeTransportationPlan.aspx and send us your comments. Much more needs to be done – but investing the dollars we have in this way will make a significant improvement in our existing highway and transit systems.
