By MARKRANZENBERGER
TheMorningSun.com
Union Township plans to take matters into its own hands to try to control parking on Lincoln Road near the Chippewa River bridge.
The township wants to make Lincoln Road a less inviting place for freelance tubers to go into the river on the road right-of-way or across nearby private property. On hot summer days, dozens of parked vehicles pack the shoulders of the road, creating what local law enforcement and nearby residents say is a dangerous traffic hazard.
By banning parking along the entire mile-long stretch between Broomfield and Remus roads, as well as on side streets, township leaders hope to make Lincoln Road a less-than desirable place to drop an inner tube into the water.
But getting that done has turned into a jurisdictional nightmare.
The township board is considering adopting ordinances that would permit the municipality itself, for the first time, to set up its own no-parking zones.
Lincoln Road is a county road, and without a local ordinance, the only agency that can set an enforceable no-parking zone on a county road is the Michigan State Police. Such a zone exists on the west side of the road 400 feet north and south of the bridge, but that leaves the entire east shoulder, and much of the west shoulder, free for parking.
Some no parking signs had been put up on the east side of the road, but those were put up without a formal order. That meant even though signs declared the area off-limits to parking, that just wasn’t enforceable, said Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski.
The unenforceable signs have come down. The signposts, however, are still there, anticipating an actual, enforceable traffic control order.
Isabella County Road Commission Manager Tony Casali said the road commission had requested that state police traffic engineers in Grand Rapids take another look at the road. But Casali said there was no word on how soon or even if they might act, and whether they might think a no parking zone were justified.
Township zoning administrator Woody Woodruff, who has been exploring the issue, said another approach would be for the township to adopt ordinances giving itself the power to issue the orders and get them enforced. The township board now is moving ahead with that.
Step One: Union Township must adopt the state’s Uniform Traffic Code as its own local law.
"That’s done ‘by reference,’" Woodruff said.
Portions of other state laws also have to be adopted. Most cities and villages do the same thing; even the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe has adopted the state’s traffic code as its own law.
That would give the township the right to issue its own traffic control orders, such as no-parking zones. Then it would be up to the municipality to enforce them, but Union Township doesn’t have a police department.
Mioduszewski said his department would be willing to enforce any township-originated no-parking zones - if the sheriff’s department had a contract with the township to do that.
"We already enforce Union Township’s noise ordinance," Mioduszewski said.
Woodruff said any traffic control orders would have to prepared by traffic engineers "to show the (signs) are warranted.". If the township does move ahead with the adoption of the Uniform Traffic Code and other laws, the township then would ask engineering firms for bids.
The township board could adopt the code and other laws in September. If all goes as planned, enforceable no-parking zones could be in place before the start of the 2012 tubing season.
Return to Paging Mode
No comments:
Post a Comment