After federal authorities twice rejected competitive funding to improve traffic conditions along Ford Road near I-275, Canton officials have renewed their push for help from Lansing.

“We're committed to this,” township Supervisor Phil LaJoy said.

LaJoy recently had a one-on-one meeting with state Rep. Brian Calley, R-Portland, who will become Michigan's next lieutenant governor Jan. 1 when Gov.-elect Rick Snyder assumes office.

LaJoy, who formerly served in the state House and knew Calley there, used a catching-up session in Lansing with his ex-colleague to bring attention to efforts to reshape the Ford Road/I-275 corridor. Officials say heavy traffic congestion has made the Ford-Haggerty intersection the state's most accident-prone.

Though LaJoy said Calley couldn't make promises, LaJoy laid out the need for funding to improve the bustling interchange. LaJoy shared with Calley a years-old regional transportation study, paid by Canton and the Michigan Department of Transportation, that indicated a need for improvements.

LaJoy seemed encouraged to have a dialogue with Calley even before he and Snyder take office.

“That's a great way to start with the new administration,” he said.

Officials say the interchange hasn't been upgraded despite years of rapid growth Canton had witnessed prior to an economic slowdown — and even despite the downturn, some new businesses continue to sprout up along Ford and Haggerty.

Canton officials find it worrisome that improvements to the Ford Road/I-275 area aren't even listed on a regional priority list for the next 25 years, even though local leaders say the interchange and its problems have regional implications.

“It's not even on the radar of the Michigan Department of Transportation, and that's wrong,” LaJoy said.

Municipal Services Director Tim Faas had suggested earlier this fall that local officials, hopefully with support from state officials, can manage not only to get the project placed on the MDOT list, but moved as closely to the top as possible.

One proposal — twice denied federal stimulus dollars this year — called for adding extra exit ramps, or slips, to allow drivers to access Haggerty in either direction without using Ford Road. It also called for a northbound service drive alongside the freeway to accommodate traffic from Cherry Hill Road, allowing motorists to avoid Ford and merge onto I-275.

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20101205/NEWS03/12050445/Canton-renews-push-for-Ford-Road-help