Talking Michigan Transportation

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks with: Ron Jackson, MDOT maintenance coordinator in the Taylor Transportation Service Center, about what it’s like maintaining some of the state’s busiest freeways during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ron and Jeff also talk about how his workers stay safe. Also, this week is National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week. Courtney Bates, who coo...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, how COVID-19 is affecting mobility, how MDOT is supporting relief efforts, and the 2020 construction season. First, Scott Greene, manager of MDOT’s Utility Coordination and Permits Services section, talks about the decision to exempt from seasonal weight restrictions trucks hauling food and vital supplies for relief efforts. https://www.michi...

A decade of higher-than-average rainfall and the devastating effects on state infrastructure is the topic on this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation. The conversation begins with Andy Dixon, a National Weather Service hydrologist who detailed the facts at a High Water Summit convened by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Feb. 10. https://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-47796-519367--,00.html Following th...

This week, on the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks with Dennis Kolar, managing director of the Road Commission of Oakland County, about his op/ed challenging the notion that a long-term fix for Michigan’s roads lies in changing the distribution of funds to the state’s 600-plus road agencies. https://www.rcocweb.org/directory.aspx? EID=7 In the commentary, published in Crain’s De...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Brad Williams, director of government affairs for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, expands on his legislative testimony in support of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan plan. https://www.michigan.gov/MDOT5YearPlan Williams testified before the House Standing Committee on Transportation Tuesday and explained why the $3.5 bill...

This week on Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation about Gov. Whitmer’s $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan plan to restore some of the state’s most vital freeways and bridges with two people who have been deeply involved in the planning: Laura Mester, MDOT chief administrative officer, and Patrick McCarthy, who heads MDOT’s Bureau of Finance. https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9621...

On this week’s edition of Talking Michigan Transportation, a conversation with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about her Rebuilding Michigan plan, announced in her State of the State address Wednesday. http://michigan.gov/RebuildingMI https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_91277---,00.html The State Transportation Commission (STC) voted Thursday to authorize $3.5 billion in State Trunkline Fund...

This week’s guest: Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist talks about his tours of Michigan’s crumbling roads and what he’s learning. Tuesday, he toured state trunklines and focused on the decades-long challenge to find sustainable funding for Michigan roads and bridges. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is also showing reporters roads in need of investment across the state. https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/d...

On Talking Michigan Transportation this week, Jeff talks with Elise Feldpausch, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) connected vehicle specialist and project manager for the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2020 Mobility Challenge. The challenge is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s initiative to showcase automated vehicles that will help people attending the auto show get around downto...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff speaks with Andy Doctoroff, the Michigan Governor’s Office point person on construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge. https://www.gordiehoweinternationalbridge.com/en Thursday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined MDOT Director Paul Ajegba and Canadian officials in southwest Detroit to unveil the design for modern pedestrian...

The guest: Dr. Timothy Gates, professor of highway design and traffic engineering at Michigan State University. https://www.egr.msu.edu/people/profile/gatestim Topics include: — Why we have speed limits and the history behind them in America. https://blog.americansafetycouncil.com/the-history-of-speed-limits-in-america/ — Some argue we could go without speed limits and drivers would self-regulate....

The guest is John Peracchio, chairman of the Michigan Council on Future Mobility, who shares insights on the Council’s work. https://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9623_31969_93141---,00.html Topics include: — The mission of the Council on Future Mobility and why the Legislature created the body in 2016. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(o3mmuho4hf5b4b1ydjjfhhaa))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Mark Geib, MDOT engineer of operations and the head of maintenance - meaning, he oversees statewide efforts to clear snow and keep state highways passable. Mark talks about innovations in clearing snow and ice and practices adopted by MDOT where winter maintenance officials are always looking for ways to stretch taxpayer d...

On this week’s episode of Talking Michigan Transportation, Jeff talks with MDOT senior policy analyst Aarne Frobom about legislation voted out of a Michigan Senate committee to require a study of tolling some Michigan routes. Read the Senate Fiscal analysis of the bill. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2019-2020/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2019-SFA-0517-F.pdf Frobom observes that in Michigan, w...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks about the reason safety experts insist on the term “crash” instead of “accident.” His guest is Lloyd Brown, director of communications at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), who has been advocating on the issue since his days at the Washington State Department of Transportation two decad...

In the wake of two recent road worker deaths in Michigan, Jeff talks with two people with expertise and personal experience in work zone issues: - Lindsey Renner, supervisor of MDOT’s work zone safety section; and - Craig Innis, an MDOT construction engineer injured while working on a project near Flint in 2016. The fallen road workers include MDOT maintenance worker Kevin White, 48, who was clear...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff interviews veteran Michigan pollster Bernie Porn, president of Epic-MRA. Topics include the public comfort level with automated vehicle technology, polling on road funding solutions in Michigan and alternatives, and the recent discussion about revising Michigan’s legislative term limit law: — As Michigan automotive and technology industr...

On the latest edition of Talking Michigan Transportation, Jeff talks with former Michigan legislative leaders Ken Sikkema and Bob Emerson about a bold bipartisan plan they offered to solve Michigan’s decades-long transportation funding crisis. https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/757/2019/01/31110650/MichiganConsensusPolicyRoadFundingProposal.pdf Sikkema, a Republican, ser...

On the latest episode of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks with Ryan Mitchell, manager of MDOT’s Innovative Contracting Unit. Topics include: Ryan’s work on financing for the much-needed additional lock at the Soo Locks, operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. This is the district’s largest project, located on the St. Marys River in Saul...

On the latest edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks with Polly Kent, who retired earlier this year as MDOT’s chief policy analyst. As administrator of the department’s intermodal policy and asset management division, Polly provided analysis on transportation funding to several administrations. She talks about the decades-long debate about a sustainable funding source f...

On the latest edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff interviews Chad Livengood, senior editor at Crain’s Detroit Business. They talk about Chad’s in-depth reporting on transportation policy in Michigan and the decades-long struggle for funding to shore up roads and bridges and put the state on equal footing with our Great Lakes neighbors and the rest of the country. How this...

On the latest Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, MDOT Director of Communications Jeff Cranson talks with Mohammed Alghurabi, a veteran project manager. Mohammed talks about his career path and his decades-long work on what is now the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Mohammed also discusses: — his work as project manager on the M-6 freeway in Ottawa and Kent counties; — and how work as a pro...

This week’s guest: Brad Wieferich, director of MDOT’s Bureau of Development, which includes the design, real estate and permits sections. Wieferich talks about the cost of road-building materials and the process of estimating construction projects. He also talks about MDOT’s robust asset management program and addresses two other perennial questions: — Do Michigan road builders use the best materi...

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, MDOT Communications Director Jeff Cranson hosts conversations with Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) Executive Secretary Kim Nowack and MBA Chairman Shorty Gleason about the 2019 Annual Bridge Walk this past Labor Day. — Kim Nowack,* who was named head administrator of the MBA in July, is pleased with participation** and the safe...

This is the inaugural edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast. Jeff Cranson, MDOT director of communications, talks with MDOT Director Paul Ajegba about his path to the department and passion for transportation. This week: Director Ajegba’s focus on alleviating congestion and improving safety and travel times with innovations like the Flex Route on US-23 north of Ann Arbor. The need...