3/26/14 - The Michigan Department of Transportation is opening up the possibility of angled parking on main trunk roads, such as Grand River, and the City of Howell could be getting in on the ground floor. Monday night, the city council approved sending a letter of intent to take part in a pilot program now that MDOT has begun work to lift that restriction from the 1950's. The state must still do studies on its implementation, and Howell officials have wanted to institute angled parking along Grand River for more than a decade. Changing to angled parking would add an estimated 100 parking spots to the city's downtown business district. MDOT knew of Howell's interest and invited the city to take part in the studies. After receiving Howell's letter of intent, MDOT will perform a traffic study on Grand River in the city to determine whether angled parking is viable. There will also be a public outreach portion of the process to determine whether residents want that sort of parking. Members of the city council said they had brought the issue up with residents, and while many were in favor of the change, it had a few very vocal and emphatic opponents. Mayor Phil Campbell pointed out that even if the city does not end up with angled parking, it will still benefit from MDOT's traffic study that will provide useful data and shed light on the impact the new I-96 interchange has had on the downtown area. (TD)
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