First carpool lanes could be coming to Michigan highways
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan currently doesn't have any dedicated carpool lanes, but that could soon change if new legislation is passed on Capitol Avenue. Officials tell CBS News Detroit they hope they will increase safety and decrease congestion on our highways.
"Hopefully, we'll reduce some of the traffic congestion that we have here in Michigan," said state Rep. Nate Shannon, who sponsored one of the bills to create the new lanes. "I think that people, once they see those those cars zooming by them while they're stuck in traffic, maybe they'll make the decision to find a find a partner to ride, a ride to work with."
Shannon's legislation is part of a two-bill package that would create the first carpool lanes in Michigan. The bills have been passed by the Michigan House, and the Senate has weighed in with a couple of changes before full approval. Shannon got to work on his bill after the Michigan Department of Transportation brought the idea for the high occupancy lanes to him.
"With the new construction on I-75, they thought that that would be a prime area for them to for us to do our first HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lane in Michigan," he said. "There's also some money, some federal money tied to it. So having that HOV lane will bring in some federal dollars in the millions. And, you know, you can't turn our back away from money from the federal government to help us improve our transportation system here in Michigan."
A spokesman for MDOT said Interstate 75 seemed like a good place to start placing the HOV lanes because of how many collisions happen on that stretch of highway.
"It really alleviates the issues that we saw before with the safety precautions where we're having those rear-end collisions, allowing for more space for vehicles, allowing vehicles to navigate more freely along the freeway," said Robert Morosi, a spokesman for MDOT. "I've always maintained this isn't necessarily about getting you home quicker. It's about getting you home safer."
The new HOV lanes will have time restrictions when they must be used by vehicles moving more than one person-- between 6 and 9 in the morning and between 3 and 6 in the evening. At other times of the day, the lanes can be used by all.
"Keep in mind, this is not something that can't be used during non-rush hour traffic times. So it is it is an extra lane," Shannon said.
Once fully approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor, officials tell CBS News Detroit, it'll be two or three weeks before we see changes to our roadways.
