MARQUETTE – The Marquette Township Board is scheduled to weigh-in on the routing of truck traffic through the greater Marquette area. Recently the Marquette City Commission passed an ordinance which directed truck traffic to stop using certain routes in the city – a move which was postponed and now being reconsidered.
Township and city officials did briefly meet on this issue when Michigan Department of Transportation engineers staged a demonstration of heavy tractor-trailers utilizing the “Michigan Left” at the intersection of Wright Street and US-41 in Marquette Township.
Township officials took issue with the new ordinance, because it directed north- and south-bound truck traffic on the east-west running Wright Street.
Officials with Plumb Creek, the state's largest private landowner, also took issue based on the large amount of forestlands being harvested north of Marquette and the difficulty of crossing US-41 traffic which, according to MDOT surveys, sees tens of thousands of vehicles each day on average.
City commissioners initially took on the routing of truck traffic when numerous residents complained about trucks using side streets to get to Marquette's two power plants, as well as log-trucks traveling from the Huron Mountains. Citizens also worried about the potential for additional trucks due to Kennecott's planned nickel/copper mine using the same routes.
Regional governments do regularly meet on the topic of traffic with the US-41/M-28 Corridor Committee – hosted by MDOT – where officials from Republic to Chocolay townships meet to discuss topics ranging from the flow of transportation to business access issues.
The Marquette County Road Commission does plan to fix a good portion of the problem by moving the Wright Street intersection to the crossing between Target and Walmart. However it's not clear yet whether that project will be completed during this construction season.
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