Promoting new construction in already developed areas. Smart Roads complements the Grand Traverse region's often-stated goal of preserving open space and relieving development pressure on farmland, forests, and recreational areas. The focus of its approach is making existing roads work better, rather than shifting the problem into the countryside. Studies show that building more and wider roads through rural lands uses tax dollars to subsidize suburban sprawl. This causes congestion as more cars rush to the latest developments.
Sprawl inevitably follows the major investment of public spending for new roads.
According to the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, the bridge and bypass are needed to relieve congestion on South Airport Road, a major east-west thoroughfare. The Commission projects that without the bypass, South Airport Road's traffic will grow from the current daily volume of 29,500 vehicles to about 46,500 in 2015. They say the bypass project would divert the increase in traffic volume, in part, by widening Hartman and Hammond roads to four lanes and connecting them with a bridge. Area residents, however, strongly object to the proposal because it is part of the same failed approach that has been used throughout the nation for 50 years. They are convinced a Traverse City bypass will invite more traffic, increase congestion, and accelerate sprawl.