US-23 Active Traffic Management System (ATM)

Last evening, I stopped at the Northfield Township Hall in Whitmore Lake to visit the Michigan

Department of Transportation (MDOT) open house regarding the US-23 Active Traffic Management (ATM) plan.

If you've ever driven the US-23 expressway to Ann Arbor in the morning rush hour, or tried to get back to Livingston County in the evening, you know what a pain it is.  Designed decades ago, it carries far too much traffic today.  Many entrance ramps are very short and interchanges don't work for today's traffic volume. There are an abundance of crashes due to slowing traffic near entrance and exit ramps.

There's not enough funding to do a major widening of this roadway, so the ATM system has been studied and judged to be feasible.  It will include extensions/upgrades of currently deficient ramps (most of them are!), factor in pedestrian and trail pathway access to local facilities, widening and/or reconstruction of existing bridges, the lane controllers, and courtesy patrols.  Part of last night's open house was to exhibit various natural landscape themes for the corridor.

Interestingly, there is also a commuter rail line effort that could help decrease commuter traffic on US-23 between I-96 on the north and M-14 on the south.  Officially called the North-South Commuter Rail, it  is often referred to as "WALLY", because it would serve Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, running from Howell to Ann Arbor.  I understand that one very expensive part of this effort, the actual rail track upgrades is done already.  As it is now, you would even be able to take your bike with you on the WALLY line, to use at your destination.  But WALLY is another blog post for another day.

There were a lot of MDOT folks at the open house and visitors were encouraged to 'vote' for the aesthetic treatments they thought would best fit the corridor.  Plenty of diagrams and overhead views were available, and I heard a number of attendees inquiring about noise control measures. I spoke to a MDOT representative that said this project would all be done in one piece and it was hoped to be completed by sometime in 2017.  Other states are using ATM systems, but this will be the first one in Michigan. 

One of the most noticeable features of the ATM is the use of a widened and upgraded left median shoulder to use for traffic.  Southbound US-23 would use this 'shoulder' for morning rush hour, northbound US-23 would use their 'shoulder' for the evening rush hour.  Large LED indicators would let motorists know that the lane was either open or closed.  Right side shoulders would still be present and could be used for motorists having vehicle troubles.  There will be set 'crash investigation' sites, too. 

Once you exit US-23, you will likely find reconfigured interchanges.  The Six Mile interchange will be re-worked for more logical ramp solutions.  At North Territorial and again at 8 Mile Rd, a combination of a roundabout and a new 'teardrop' (elongated roundabout) configuration will be used.  Bridges at Warren, Barker Rd and the CSX overpass (north of Lee Rd in Green oak Twp) will certainly be reworked, too.  If you're thinking this is a large project - you're right!

You'll be hearing more about this project, and if you commute to Ann Arbor, I suspect that things may temporarily get a little bit worse, but there's also the promise that it will make the commute less stressful and more efficient. There's a ton of background info available and I've included some links below.  Missing are the treatment options.

Washtenaw Area Transportation Study-http://www.miwats.org/watsblog/2015/1/21/us-23-project-update

MDOT US-23 Corridor Project -http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9621_11058-316825--,00.html

Wally Rail - https://www.facebook.com/WALLYRail/

image attributions: US-23 sign - State of Michigan MDOT; ATM graphic - Washtenaw Area Transportation Study blog; tear drop configuration - MDOT Appendix A, Traffic Analysis Data, US-23 Improvements document

Flood Insurance Update

I participated in a discussion regarding flood insurance recently at my office (Preview Properties, PC). Of course, with the redrawing of FEMA flood plain maps, there has been a lot of confusion for everybody involved – insurance agents, real estate professionals, surveyors, and consumers. The only party not confused seems to be the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Of Michigan’s 83 Counties, 59 will have re-drawn flood maps but right now only 22 have been completed. Here’s an interesting State statistic for Michiganders. For the years 1978 through 2009, $284.4 million dollars left the State in flood insurance premiums. In that same time, $45 million came back in the form of claims payments. Not a very good return for us as a State.


A few basics. Federal flood insurance covers only the structure, not personal possessions. Additional flood insurance policies are available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and your homeowner’s insurance carrier for personal items, but that coverage is also quite limited or quite expensive.  Rates are better if your municipality participates in the NFIP. As of 9/28/2011 there were no Livingston County listings, but Augusta and Ann Arbor Townships and the City of Ann Arbor were listed for Washtenaw County.


There’s a lot of talk about the 100 year flood, too. That doesn’t mean what some folks think it means, which is often that the area will flood once every 100 years. It actually represents about a one percent (1%) chance of a flood in any given year.


If your property is in a flood zone, you have to pay for flood insurance. Period. However, with the re-drawing of flood maps (still in progress for much of the nation – and parts of our State), some areas may not have been mapped properly and there could be properties that qualify for exemption. A Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) will be needed, and this is definitely not something you want to do yourself. Your ability to acquire a LOMA will depend largely on the lowest point of your home’s exterior, and the best way to determine this to FEMA’s satisfaction is to have a surveyor come up with the elevation.


A surveyor experienced with flood insurance is your best bet. If they are certified to electronically file a Letter of Map Amendment (e-LOMA), this can be done in a very short period of time, a matter of weeks. This immediate help is available to properties in flood areas designated AE, or A1 through A30, because the base elevations of the area are known and an e-LOMA can be filed. If you’re in an ‘A’ designated flood area, it will take longer and require a physical package of documentation to be sent in to FEMA.


In some cases, a homeowner that is successful in getting a LOMA approved may be eligible for at least part of their flood insurance premiums paid for the last year or two. There are also other ways to get a LOMA approved, especially if your home is built on a crawlspace. This process is called a Letter of Map Revision-fill (or LOMR-f). Usually, you must have a landscaper install a clay berm around the low point of the house, it has to be 95% compacted, then covered with fill and landscaping. By changing the lowest adjacent grade (LAG) and installing flood vents in the foundation, a LOMR-f may successfully get you out of flood insurance.


The cost of this service which includes surveying and documentation submittal can run $600-$800, but at least one SE Michigan company will consult with you and only accept the full fee if they are able to help. That’s better than what many homeowners are paying every year for flood insurance. I’m happy to pass that info along to anybody that may need it, feel free to contact me via facebook, or phone.

photo credit: think4photop / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Is The Real Estate Market Rebounding?

We measure inventory in terms of "months of supply". Example: If there are 100 units available and an average of 10 units are sold each month (for the last year), that's 100/10=10 month supply. For those of us in the industry, a 6 month supply of homes (or condos) is considered a balanced market. Less than a 6 month supply is a seller's market, longer than 6 months is a buyer's market. Of course, that's a very general guideline, but it works most of the time.

Here's some information that was discussed at my company's sales meeting yesterday. From calendar year 2009 to calendar year 2010, the inventory of detached single family residences (SFR) in Livingston County (MI) dropped by 17.5%, from 8.0 to 6.6 months of supply. Likewise, the condo supply dropped from 7.9 to 5.8, or by 26.5%.

In Oakland County, the SFR went from 7.0 to 5.8, or a 17.1% drop while condos went from a 9.4 month supply to 5.6 months - a whopping 40.4% drop in inventory!

Washtenaw also saw drops, although more modest. For SFRs it was from 7.4 in 2009 to 6.9 in 2010, a 6.6% reduction. Condos went from 9.1 to 6.1 months supply, or a 24.2% reduction.
Now we know that 2010 was still a big year for foreclosures and that not as many foreclosures came on the market for resale. Banks seem to be hanging on to some of the inventory, keeping them off the market. But I don't think that accounts for all of these figures.

We have historically low interest rates (although they are creeping back up), low purchase prices, lower inventory, and judging by our collective calls and inquiries there is strong buyer demand.

My personal experience is that when a property gets to the 'right' price it will create a multiple offer situation. I've recently been in situations where one of my listings had 6 competing offers, another 4. As a buyer's agent, I've been there, too. My feeling is that the housing market is starting to rebound, although we're certainly not in the clear yet. 'Rebound' is in terms of the number of sales, not sales prices, which remain pretty low. What do you think about the real estate market or the economy in general?

2007 Washtenaw County Housing Market Report

Year-end information for Washtenaw County home sales is now available.

Home sales dropped in number for 2007 when compared to 2006, dropping from 3,345 to 3,062 (or 8%) and condominium sales dropped from 761 in 2006 to 660 (13%) in 2007.

Sales volume (total dollar value of all sales) on houses went from $866,132,966 in 2006 to $766,375,165 - an 11.5% drop. In the condominium category, volume dropped from $135,160,039 to $119,784,350 - an 11.3% drop.

There was a 4% increase in 'fall throughs', homes under contract that never reached closing for one reason or another, and withdrawals from the MLS increased over 9% compared to 2006 (6,083 in 2006 vs. 6,652 in 2007).

Based on information from the Ann Arbor Area Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service for 2007.