Chapter 9:

Transportation Profile

This chapter profiles the local transportation system. Data reviewed includes functional hierarchy of roads, traffic counts, and accident data. The purpose of this analysis is to understand local transportation conditions which may be considered as part of the land use planning process so that the function and capacity of these roads may be maintained in the future.

Road Hierarchy

The road system in Suttons Bay Township forms a four level functional hierarchy comprised of regional arterials, local arterials, collectors, and residential roadways. The following describes the road system hierarchy. The hierarchy is depicted on Map 7.

M-22 and M-204 (Duck Lake Road) serve as regional arterials that connect Suttons Bay Township with the surrounding area. M-22 runs the perimeter of Leelanau County as a scenic lakeshore highway and connects the township to Traverse City, the regional center. M-204 provides an east-west connection between the villages of Suttons Bay and Leland, the county seat, and the Lake Michigan shoreline and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

From this regional system stem local arterials and collector roadways. North Macksey Road and Lake Leelanau Drive, both of which provide north-south circulation in the western portion of the township, are classified as local arterials. Jacobson Road and Center Highway, which are classified as collector roads, also carry traffic in a north-south direction.

Less traveled residential roadways branch out throughout the Township. These roads provide vehicular access to abutting properties but do not carry high volumes of through traffic.

Traffic counts

Traffic count data for state highways was obtained from the Leelanau County Road Commission (LCRC) and maps prepared by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

Traffic count data is collected for M-22 and the county roads which intersect M-22. According to county records dated September, 1990 and June, 1996, there was a significant increase in traffic movement on M-22 north of Setterbro and into Peshawbestown during this time frame. The sharpest spike (147.5 percent) in traffic along M-22 occurred at Putnam Road, increasing from 193 to 470 over the 6-year period. The second largest increase (105.1 percent) was registered at McKeese Road and M-22, the gateway to Peshawbestown. It is interesting to note that the greatest increase in traffic flow were in the vicinity of the casino development and involved roads which provide connections to the northern and western portions of Leelanau County.

The MDOT data for 1990 show that M-22 entering Suttons Bay Village supported a traffic volume of 4,300 with more traffic diverting

west on M-204 (2,800) than continuing north (2,400) through the Village on M-22. By 1996, the level traffic entering Suttons Bay Village on M-22 increased by 90.1 percent to 8,200 vehicles. However, the traffic count data show more vehicles continuing north (5,000) rather than veering west on M-204 (4,400). This change in traffic flow is further evidence of the attraction of the casino development.

In regard to commercial (truck) traffic, MDOT data indicates an increase 52.3 percent in truck traffic traveling the segment of M-22 that extends between Suttons Bay Village and Traverse City between 1990 and 1996. Commercial vehicle traffic on M-22 north of the village increased 16.7 percent during the same time period. Between 1990 and 1996, commercial vehicle traffic leaving the village on M-204 decreased 26.1 percent.

In spring of 2000, Suttons Bay Township approved the Michigan State Highway 22 Scenic Heritage Route Management Plan.

Increased traffic counts on M-22, much of it related to activities outside the Township, will alter the way people will enter the Township from the south.