Talking Michigan Transportation

A bill introduced in Congress by U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, the Protecting Lifesaving Operations during Winter Storms Act (PLOWS Act), would exempt snowplows used by state and local government agencies from federal diesel emission regulations as other emergency vehicles are. The County Road Association of Michigan (CRA) highlighted the issue because of the frequency of emission regulation devices malfunctioning and causing snowplows to slow to a crawl, creating dangerous conditions on the roads....

Research indicates as many as 2 million vehicles collide with large wildlife in the United States each year, resulting in as many as 200 human deaths, more than 26,000 injuries and billions of dollars in property damage. Officials in Michigan hope to join other states in finding creative ways to address the problem. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Amanda Novak, a resource specialist at the Michigan Department of Transportation, talks about her work in conjunction with ...

As this year’s road construction season draws to a close, this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast focuses on some of the major Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) projects nearing completion on state trunklines. Gregg Brunner, MDOT chief operations officer, joins the conversation to recap the work completed in the past year. He also talks about trends in construction costs and what it will mean in coming years as MDOT’s Rebuilding Michigan program draws to ...

Just before the U.S. Senate recessed at the end of September, leaders of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee introduced what is being called the most comprehensive permitting bill to date, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA). The committee chairs and ranking members held a joint news conference announcing the long-awaited deal. On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Zach Rable, fed...

This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast is an encore of a previous discussion about the vital need for driver attention in work zones following the death of a county worker last week in Eaton County. Police pointed to this incident as part of a rising, preventable trend of distracted driving and speeding where road crews are working. Michigan State Police Lt. Rene Gonzalez told media outlets, "This was no mistake; it was a preventable crash," urging all motorists to...