Posted on 03/03/2012 6:24:40 PM PST by Darren McCarty
It’s been called the Woodward Loop and Wide Track Drive.
It’s also been cited as the reason for downtown Pontiac’s struggle to survive, circling traffic around local merchants and restaurants.
Oakland County planners are trying to figure out ways to attract traffic into downtown Pontiac, rather than have traffic diverted around the downtown district.
The public is invited to attend a meeting with local government officials, planners, residents and business owners to discuss how to fix what many argue has become a barrier for the neighborhoods and surrounding communities.
Funding for the effort was through a $300,000 Sustainable Communities Challenge Grant awarded to Oakland County Planning and Economic Development Services.
Oakland County is contributing a $104,000 match in in-kind staff services for the project.
The Michigan Department of Transportation also has been assisting with support.
Representatives from these groups have been meeting since December, working on what has become the Downtown Pontiac Transportation Assessment.
The exact outcome of the project is difficult to predict, said Dan Hunter, deputy director of Economic Development and Community Affairs for Oakland County.
“It is looking at how best to connect downtown and then the flow of traffic downtown, so it is pretty exciting to at least look at doing things a bit different,” Hunter said. “We’ve had the Loop and Wide Track ever since urban renewal. Maybe there are ways to improve that accessibility.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theoaklandpress.com ...
Lake Orion, Clarkston, Oxford, Drayton Plains, and Waterford might as well have been on a different planet as far as I’m concerned. I was born and raised in a GM town. If you lived in Pontiac, you either drove a Pontiac, a Chevy, or a broken down Huffy. Pontiac is-was a GM boom town, along with all of the rest. I left Michigan this year after 40 years, and I’m not looking back. I’ve been a shop rat long enough.
Darren Thanks for the post. MDOT is re doing the major in and out roads. So at least you can leave in a hurry. LOL
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