Official Wants Woodward in the Orange When it Comes to Winter Weather

Oakland County Commissioner Shelley Goodman Taub (R-Bloomfield Township) said she will introduce a resolution when the commission meets Thursday to help elevate the priority level of Woodward Avenue when it comes to plowing snow.

The roadway, which cuts across the county and is a main thoroughfare connecting eight populous communities, is a state highway under state jurisdiction. However, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) contracts with the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) for plowing services on many of its roads. It color-codes those roadways to give local communities a guideline for plowing, RCOC spokesman Craig Bryson said.

Woodward currently carries a blue designation from MDOT, meaning the pavement should be generally free of ice and snow in a center portion that's wide enough for one wheel track in each direction. Overtime is allowed as needed during a winter storm. Further clearing should be done as soon as reasonably possible without overtime after the winter storm ends.

A Level 1, or orange, classification means crews clear the entire width of the roadway of ice and snow and use overtime to do so when necessary. That includes multiple plows making continuous runs on a certain route during and after a snowstorm.

Telegraph Road, M-5, M-10 and M-59 in Oakland County are designated orange. The only other state trunklines in Oakland County with a blue designation are:

• Square Lake Road between Telegraph Road and Interstate 75
• Rochester Road in Rochester Hills
• Auburn Road in Rochester Hills
• Grand River Avenue in Farmington Hills

"We want to change it from from a blue road to an orange road so it's No. 1 on the hit parade," Taub said while addressing the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday.

Safety concerns due to the high traffic volume of Woodward and its proximity to three major local hospitals are the chief reasons behind the push, she added. Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac and Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital are either located right off Woodward or rely heavily on it for ambulance service.

"That's the main thoroughfare for emergencies, families in distress trying to get to the hospital and women having babies," Taub said. "How dumb do they (MDOT) have to be to sit up there (in Lansing) and not understand what happens in Oakland County?"

Taub said fellow commissioners and other local transportation officials support the move.

Bryson explained that MDOT implemented the color codes about four years ago due to budget constraints. Though Woodward is designated blue on paper, he said RCOC crews have always treated the thoroughfare as a top priority and that MDOT officials have yet to turn down a request from RCOC officials to spend more time and resources clearing certain sections.

"Whenever we've asked, they've agreed to do it," Bryson said. "We've got an excellent working relationship with them, and they are sensitive to the needs we have on Woodward. In practice, these guidelines really have never been applied, but there could be a time in the future when they are, and that's our concern."

The County Commission meets for the final time this year at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the Oakland County Courthouse. Taub said she expected her motion to be sent to committee for information gathering before a formal vote.