Talking Michigan Transportation

Just as crews began repairing sections of M-119 (also known as The Tunnel of Trees) damaged by April flooding, heavy rains in June wreaked havoc on more sections of the popular tourist route in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. Following completion of a $300,000 project to stabilize the slope beneath a section of M-119 near West Stutsmanville Road damaged in the spring flooding, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced in early September that it has reopened M-119 between...

As fall approaches, and on the heels of last week’s discussion about creating safe crossings to prevent deadly and costly vehicle-wildlife crashes, we are reprising an episode from 2024 featuring a discussion with Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Public Information Officer Ed Golder. Golder talked about the decline in deer harvests being reported by hunters and an innovative program, now called Hunters Feeding Michigan, a name change from what was mentioned in the origina...

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 ...

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Jennifer Roberts, national road usage charge (RUC) discipline lead at CDM Smith, the consultant selected by the Michigan Department of Transportation to study and eventually pilot transitioning Michigan’s primary road funding formula to an RUC instead of the gas tax. The Michigan Legislature in 2025 directed MDOT to begin the study and pilot program. Roberts provided a project overview and the tasks ahead, including p...

This week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features another conversation with Joann Muller, who writes the Axios Future of Mobility newsletter. Muller talks about her recent reporting on Amazon’s Zoox (pronounced "zooks") robotaxis. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted a temporary exemption to commercially deploy up to 2,500 robotaxis annually for two years. All of this comes as Waymo, Uber and other companies make investme...