By: Mary Beth Almond | Rochester Post | Published September 7, 2022
ROCHESTER HILLS — Members of the community are invited to gather Sept. 20 to give their thoughts on Adams Road.
The city of Rochester Hills, the Road Commission for Oakland County and Oakland University have joined forces to conduct a study to determine the future of the Adams Road corridor, from Hamlin Road to Walton Boulevard, and are seeking public input.
“This corridor has been a challenge for literally decades,” said the Road Commission’s Craig Bryson. “It’s a major road providing access to a major university — as well as a booming city — that remains two lanes, as it was 75 years ago. There has been a lot of discussion over the years, but we want to know what the community would like to see along that corridor.”
The study — which kicks off this month with the launch of a website and the first public input meeting — is expected to take up to four years to complete.
A public “visioning workshop” will be held 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at University Presbyterian Church, 1385 S. Adams Road in Rochester Hills. Those interested are invited to drop in anytime during the session. Presentations will be given at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.
“We encourage everybody to give us their thoughts,” Bryson said. “Whether you live along the road, whether you drive the road, whether your business is near the road, whether your kids go to school along the road, whoever you are, you have a right to offer input, and we want to hear it.”
There is also a Visioning Adams Road website, which provides an overview of the study process and allows the public and various stakeholders to provide input at mksk.mysocialpinpoint.com/visioningadamsroad. The website includes an interactive map, an online survey and an “ideas wall.”
Throughout the study, the public and stakeholders will shape the future plans for the corridor, which Bryson said could include making improvements or doing nothing.
“This process, in and of itself, doesn’t mean anything is going to happen, because it also doesn’t provide funding,” he said. “But if the community decides that something should be done to the corridor, this step has to be done to document that desire before we can apply for federal funding to do anything.”
The study is funded by a $2 million federal Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development, or BUILD, grant that was awarded in 2020, with a study start date of 2022.
“In past surveys and studies the city has done, this section of the road has always come up as the one road with the worst congestion that needs to be improved, and because of that, we went out and received that grant,” said Sara Roediger, the planning and economic development director for the city of Rochester Hills.
The multiyear study, which kicked off this month, will include a planning and environmental linkage study and a subsequent environmental assessment of the corridor. The Road Commission and the city of Rochester Hills are splitting the required local match of $500,000 to complete the study.
“It’s really a deep dive of the corridor to really evaluate all the different factors — whether it be traffic, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, the natural features, neighborhoods, and historical assets. This looks at and balances all of the various concerns to try to come up with what would be a preferred solution for this area. Is it to make some modifications? Is it to keep it as is? Is it to widen? All of these things are on the table,” Roediger explained.
“The whole process is governed by federal rules and regulations, and it ultimately has to be approved by the state and the federal government, and we have to document the public input throughout the multiyear, very detailed process,” Bryson added.
For more information, visit mksk.mysocialpinpoint.com/visioningadamsroad.