1. travel

SPRING 2015
emscope
A quarterly publication of SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
our road reality
2004
Poor
10% Good
17%
Fair
73%
2014
Good
14%
2020
(Projected forecast)
Good
6%
Poor
43%
Fair
43%
Poor
75%
Fair
9%
emscope
SPRING - 2015
2014-2015 Officers
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
1001 Woodward Avenue, Suite 1400
Detroit, Michigan 48226-1904
313-961-4266 • Fax 313-961-4869
www.semcog.org
facebook.com/SEMCOG twitter.com/SEMCOG
semcog.org/blog.aspx
youtube.com/SEMCOG
linkedin.com/company/semcog
Cover photo:
SEMCOG data and information is making the case for increased road
funding, leading up to the May 5 statewide vote. The stark reality lies in
the road conditions pie charts that appear on the cover, including the 2020
projection if the ballot proposal does not pass. We have over 700 photos
of roads in poor condition, similar to the one we chose for the cover.
This is a street off of Woodward Avenue in the downtown Detroit area
just north of Comerica Park.
Preparation of this document was financed in part through grants
from and in cooperation with the Michigan Department
of Transportation with the assistance of the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and Federal
Transit Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and local member dues.
Please direct any questions about this publication
to Sue Stetler, 313-324-3428 or [email protected]
Semscope is a quarterly publication of SEMCOG
ISSN#03071-1310
Kathy D. Vosburg
Chairperson
Commissioner,
Macomb County
Jeffrey Jenks
First Vice Chair
Commissioner,
Huntington Woods
Robert Clark
Vice Chairperson
Mayor,
Monroe
Rodrick Green
Vice Chairperson
Trustee,
Superior Township
Phil LaJoy
Vice Chairperson
Supervisor,
Canton Township
Karl Tomion
Vice Chairperson
Commissioner,
St. Clair County
Joan Gebhardt
Immediate Past Chair
Treasurer,
Schoolcraft College
Kathleen Lomako
Executive Director
Printed on recycled paper.
Table of Contents
Commentary - Kathleen Lomako, SEMCOG Executive Director
2 It’s time to fix the roads
3 Making the case for increased road funding
6 MI Travel Counts survey:
Planning for the future
8 Oh, Canada: An update on the new bridge
9 SEMCOG members implementing
green infrastructure
10 SEMCOG’s Spring General Assembly
March 26, 2015 • Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
12 New look, same great regional information
Check out www.semcog.org
Commentary
It’s time to fix the roads
Kathleen Lomako
Executive Director,
SEMCOG
2
What do you do when you notice a leak in the roof? There is the easy approach. Break out
a bucket and hope for sunny days. Or, there is the correct approach. Get out the ladder and
go find the problem.
For over a decade, our state has been using the bucket approach to dealing with maintenance of our roads. Unfortunately, we now have so many holes in our system we have run
out of buckets. Our funding system was inadequate in 1997 (the last time the gas tax was
increased). In 2015, it’s now embarrassing.
Road agencies across the state have been fighting a losing battle when trying to maintain
transportation infrastructure. Last year alone, an additional 10 percent of the major roads
received a pavement condition evaluation of “poor.” That is over 400 miles of the most
important roads within our region deteriorating from being in drivable shape to needing
replacement. As a reminder, last summer it took $250 million to replace just seven miles of
I-96. As the cover of this magazine indicates, SEMCOG projects that we will likely see 75
percent of our major roads need replacing by 2020 without a drastic change to the way we
fund our road system. That is 6,000 miles of roads in just the seven-county SEMCOG region
and doesn’t include the thousands of miles of secondary and subdivision roads in need of
attention as well.
Voters will be going to the polls on May 5th to vote on a very controversial transportation
proposal. Nothing about the proposal is attractive; however the alternative is just plain ugly.
We are voting on a constitutional amendment to allow the sales tax to be increased to seven
percent. However, that increased revenue is not going to the roads, it is going to replace the
revenue lost by schools and municipalities if gasoline and diesel fuels are exempted from the
sales tax. The proposal provides more money for roads by creating a larger gas tax; however,
the sting at the pump is offset by exempting gasoline from the sales tax. While this is not an
easy or straightforward proposal, it does meet the important SEMCOG objectives of increased
transportation revenues, without endangering school and municipal funding. The bucket
approach needs to end. It’s time to fix the roads.
For further information on the proposal, visit our new website at www.semcog.org.
Road Funding
Making the case
for increased road funding
There are 22,000 miles of public roads in the seven-county SEMCOG region. If laid end-to-end, that is almost
enough mileage to circle our planet. Some of the roads
are eight-lane freeways; others are main streets that are
lined with local businesses. The region has side streets
that run in front of our homes as well as dirt roads that
can become a quagmire during the spring thaw.
This year, the state will distribute just over $400 million
to counties, cities, and villages in Southeast Michigan
to maintain those roads. This money is used to pay for
everything from plowing, salting, and mowing to crack
sealing, filling potholes, top coating, and repaving the
roads. That is about $80 from every resident of the region, or $18,500 per mile of road, on average. At $18,500,
you need to save for a lot of years to pay for a $1-millionper-mile repaving project. And that’s assuming you don’t
spend any money on those other things.
The money is distributed by an extremely complicated
formula established under state law. Many factors are
considered when determining how much money is distributed to a local road agency for a particular mile of
road. As one would expect, the state distributes more
money for a major road in an urban area, compared to
a back road in a rural area. As a result, the resources
available to one county road agency or city can be drastically different from another. Unfortunately, there is one
commonality for all Michigan road agencies – they are
all struggling to do a proper job.
The asset management approach
This important point bears repeating. Road agencies
in Michigan have been struggling for years to meet demands. Over a decade ago, programs were established to
develop asset management techniques to make the best
use of available resources for roads. SEMCOG has been
a leader in the state in promoting maintenance models to
prolong the life of a road. SEMCOG is also in a unique
position to understand that there is not enough money
to properly maintain the 22,000 miles of roadways in
Southeast Michigan.
The asset management program begins each summer with
an inventory of the pavement condition of the major roads
in the region that are eligible for federal funding support.
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emscope
SPRING - 2015
Road data, current funding, and funding available if Proposal 15-1 passes
Proposed
Dollars per Mile Community
Current Amount
Amount*
Road Miles
(Current)
Dollars per Mile*
Livingston County Road Commission
$12,838,431
$21,520,499
1340.33
91.29
$15,338
$9,579
$16,056
Macomb County Road Department
$39,087,499
$65,520,658
1667.19
$23,445
$39,300
Monroe County Road Commission
$10,678,081
$17,899,189
1339.61
182.48
$14,293
$7,971
$13,361
Oakland County Road Department
$62,436,451
$104,659,481
2724.37
$22,918
$38,416
St. Clair County Road Commission
$10,636,504
$17,829,504
1551.99
279.7
$6,853
$14,994
$24,891
Washtenaw County Road Commission
$17,465,250
$29,276,232
1649.04
$10,591
$17,754
Livingston Cities and Villages
Macomb County Cities and Villages
Monroe County Cities and Villages
Oakland County Cities and Villages
St. Clair County Cities and Villages
Washtenaw County Cities and Villages
Wayne County Road Department
$1,400,236
$28,614,691
$2,608,210
$49,041,420
$4,193,947
$10,337,789
$59,156,233
$2,324,503
$47,502,664
$4,329,838
$81,412,663
$6,962,285
$17,161,555
1430.33
2826.86
463.48
$20,006
$17,348
$22,305
$25,463
$33,211
$23,728
$28,800
$11,488
$37,027
Wayne County Cities and Villages
$103,764,844
$172,257,899
$99,160,996
1581.39
$37,408
$62,705
SEMCOG Region
$412,259,586
$687,817,975
22308.82
$18,480
$30,832
5180.76
$20,029
$33,250
*When Proposal 15-1 is fully implemented
There are 8,000 miles of roads in the region classified as
federal-aid eligible. Each summer, SEMCOG partners
with state and local road agencies to evaluate half of those
roads. Over a two-year period, every mile of those roads
is graded on a 1-to-10 scale. For reporting purposes, road
conditions are grouped into three categories – good, fair,
and poor.
Roads in “good” condition have recently been repaved.
Some inexpensive preventative maintenance is required
to keep pavement from deteriorating on these roads.
Roads in “fair” condition require active management
to maintain the integrity of the pavement. Gaps in the
pavement render the road susceptible to heat, cold, rain,
and ice. Once water is able to penetrate the pavement,
deterioration accelerates, especially when ice is formed.
Roads are evaluated to identify the stretches of pavement
at this critical juncture. Under an asset management
approach, aggressive road maintenance may extend the life
of the road for an extra decade at a very reasonable cost.
Once a road has fallen into the “poor” category, maintenance programs can no longer prolong the life of the road
in an acceptable manner. At best, potholes are filled until
the funding can be found to replace the pavement.
Interactive map allows communities to view road conditions in 2004, 2009, and 2014
4
Road Funding
I hope all of you are communicating with
your citizens to help them understand the
proposal and how it addresses our significant transportation needs. Obviously, if
this does not pass, we can expect a very
bumpy road ahead.
- Kathleen Lomako, SEMCOG Executive Director
On the cover of this issue of Semscope are the results of
the road pavement evaluation from three time periods
– 2004, 2014, and the current projection of pavement
conditions for 2020, assuming no changes to current
road funding levels.
Note that in 2004, only 10 percent of the region’s major roads were considered to be in poor condition. At
the same time, nearly three-quarters of the roads were
considered to be in fair condition. Last summer, it was
determined that 43 percent of those same roads are
now considered to be in poor condition. The amount of
roads in good condition remained constant. The most
disturbing issue was the fact that many of the roads that
were classified in fair condition last summer are on the
downside of that rating group. This means that if major
maintenance projects are not quickly initiated on these
roads, hundreds of miles of major roads in our region will
quickly fall into the poor category. Based on current road
funding conditions, SEMCOG projects that 75 percent
of our major roads will be classified as poor by 2020.
Asset management for roads is based on the principals
of extending the life of a road in an acceptable condition
through use of intermediate maintenance procedures that
are much more cost effective than simply waiting until
the road must be replaced. There is no better way to save
money than to protect the money already invested in roads.
Lacking financial resources
So, while we have developed the plan on how to preserve
our roads, and we have inventoried so we can target our resources, we have effectively ignored the key component to
plan implementation – funding. Our concern over saving
taxpayer funds is allowing billions of dollars of taxpayerfunded roads to crumble into worthless chunks of rock.
Currently, our state and local road agencies do not have
the financial resources to get the job done. Local road
agencies scramble to fund winter plowing and salting
activities. Once spring hits, a battalion of road crews are
out filling potholes. Filling potholes is not maintaining
infrastructure. It is simply trying to make the roads drivable. There is no better way to describe the last decade
of Michigan’s road funding program than the old saying
– pennywise and pound foolish.
For more information on Michigan’s road funding issues,
please visit the new SEMCOG website – www.semcog.
org. It contains information about the May 5th ballot proposal, as well as further information related road funding
and road condition reports.
Find this interactive pavement map at maps.semcog.org/pavement-map
5
emscope
SPRING - 2015
MI Travel Counts survey:
Planning for the future
You can have a say in shaping Southeast Michigan’s
future transportation system. How?
Regularly, major urban areas across the country conduct
an important travel survey to help planners better understand the region’s travel characteristics and to guide
future transportation projects.
SEMCOG and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) are currently sponsoring such a survey
of Michigan residents – called MI Travel Counts. The
questions are fairly simple. Where are you going? How
did you get there? How long were you there? Did you
travel for work or school, for shopping or recreation?
The answers to these questions all shape the understanding
of how Michigan’s transportation system is used and how
it can be improved – now and in the future. Ultimately, it
enables us to spend limited funding resources more wisely.
For SEMCOG, this survey will help in developing the
long-range Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and the
short-term Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
The RTP is a 20-year vision of the region’s transportation
system. The plan identifies and analyzes transportation
needs of the region and creates a framework for project priorities. While the TIP is a list of specific projects
selected from the RTP for implementation by cities,
villages, county road agencies, transit providers, and
MDOT over the next three years.
“Southeast Michigan is changing all the time,” notes
SEMCOG Executive Director Kathleen Lomako. “These
changes have an impact on how we live, work, and travel.
This survey is a critical tool to help the region create a
transportation system that benefits everyone. The information we receive will help improve roads, reduce
traffic congestion, enhance biking and walking paths,
and upgrade public transportation.”
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MI Travel Counts is being conducted by Westat, a nationally recognized research firm, with a proven track record
in these types of travel surveys. The data that residents
provide will be strictly confidential in accordance with
the law.
How it works
We need nearly 10,000 households to complete the survey
for it to accurately reflect regional travel. To achieve those
numbers, Westat will mail more than 350,000 invitations
during two survey time periods – April 20-June 4 and
September 8-November 24.
Invitation letter and recruitment survey: During
these time periods, invitation letters are mailed. The letter comes with a PIN code that allows households to
begin the survey online at www.mitravelcounts.com or
by phone. There, a household-level recruitment survey is
completed. Questions asked – list of household members;
work/school status; number of vehicles; driver’s license
status; and household income.
Retrieval day: Households who complete the recruitment survey will then be assigned a “travel or retrieval
day,” the specific day when all members of the household will record their travel. Typical retrieval questions
– all places visited on assigned travel day; time the trip
was made; how travel was completed – by car, bike, or
walking; who went on the trip; and activity of the trip.
In order to provide an accurate accounting of the day’s
activities, the information can be preliminarily recorded
on a travel log or diary downloaded from the website.
See example on the next page. At the end of the day, this
information is submitted online or by phone.
GPS surveys: Ten percent of households will be asked to
complete the surveys by wearing a GPS device for three
days. Households will also complete a prompted recall
survey to confirm the details captured by the GPS device
for one of the days.
Household Travel Survey
Incentives: Households that complete the survey will
receive $20. Households participating in the GPS survey
will receive $25 for each participating member of the
household (in lieu of the $20).
How local governments can help
Let your residents know they may be asked to participate
in this importatnt data collection effort. Share how essential data like this will help in planning for improvements
in roads, public transit, and bike and trail facilities. In
addition, www.mitravelcounts.com includes a section of
Frequently Asked Questions. Please consider adding this
website to your website.
Other resources: Please also consider following MI
Travel Counts on social media – www.facebook.com/
mitravelcounts and www.twitter.com/mitravelcounts. A
YouTube video explaining the survey can be found here:
youtube.com/watch?v=bdIsUSK_03Y
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emscope
SPRING - 2015
NITC
Oh, Canada: An update on the
new bridge
Douglas George, the new Consul General
of Canada headquartered in Detroit (and
serving Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and
Kentucky), recently spoke to SEMCOG’s
Executive Committee about the new
bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Improvements to the connections between
Detroit and Winsor are called for in SEMCOG’s regional
transportation plan and regional economic development
strategy. Consul General George shared information on
the importance of the new bridge and project progress.
“This is the most important trade crossing between
Canada and the U.S.,” said George. “This area matters.
It’s one of the reasons why building this new bridge has
been Canada’s priority for the past 10 years.”
The U.S.-Canada relationship
“We are your biggest customer,” George noted. “We buy
more stuff from you than anyone else.” For perspective,
Canada buys three times more U.S. goods and services
than China; more than China, Japan, and the United
Kingdom combined; more than all 28 countries in the
European Union. “Trade matters,” George emphasized.
• $734 billion worth of goods and services is traded
annually between the two countries; that’s $2 billion
every day.
• Nine million U.S. jobs are dependent on U.S.-Canada
trade (240,000 are in Michigan).
• 23 percent of Canadian trade is with Michigan, Ohio,
Indiana, and Kentucky ($144 billion).
• $160 billion in trade crosses at the Detroit-Windsor
corridor, which is 30 percent of total Canada-U.S. trade.
Details about the new bridge
“Getting the agreement to build this bridge has been a
colossal challenge,” George noted.
8
• In 2012 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed an agreement.
• The bridge will be located two miles southwest of the
Ambassador Bridge. It will directly link to highway
401, via the new Herb Gray Parkway, which is scheduled to be completed this year.
• An international authority (three commissioners
each from Canada and Michigan) will oversee bridge
development and operation. A private-sector concessionaire will be hired to design, build, finance, operate,
and maintain the bridge and customs plazas for both
countries. Canada will be responsible for day-to-day
management of the project through the WindsorDetroit Bridge Authority.
• The authority is adding staff and preparing to begin
the process of procuring a private-sector partner who
will become the concessionaire.
• The private-sector partner will develop a community
benefits plan that will include how they will address community concerns and engage the local community. The
goal is to be a good neighbor in communities on both
side of border. There will be local opportunities, including apprenticeship programs for community residents.
Who is paying for what?
“At the end of the day,” George said, “Michigan will be
half owner of the bridge. At the end of the day, this is a
pretty good deal.”
• Funding bridge – Private-sector partner; Canada is
guaranteeing funding.
• U.S. port of entry – Michigan is acquiring 1,000 parcels
of land that Canada is purchasing.
• U.S. customs plaza – Private-sector partner will fund
construction; Canada will guarantee funding; U.S. will
staff plaza; road construction is necessary from customs plaza to I-75; Canada will buy land and finance
construction.
• Cost to Michigan – Cost of construction = $0; Outlays
= $0; Liability = $0.
• Canada will ultimately recoup its investment via tolls,
but that will take a few decades.
In the end
“Building this bridge is an excellent example of the enduring relationship between our two countries,” George
emphasized. “It will be the most advanced, most modern
bridge in the world. It will provide ongoing economic
benefits.” The expected completion date is 2020
Best Practices
SEMCOG members implementing
green infrastructure
What is green infrastructure?
• Natural, undisturbed environment such as wetlands,
trees, prairies, lakes, rivers, and streams.
• Constructed features such as rain gardens, bioswales,
and community gardens.
• Benefits – Improved air, water quality; enhanced community spaces; increased property values.
• SEMCOG’s Green Infrastructure Vision identifies network
in region, creates vision for connecting gaps and growing overall network.
Some examples of communities
implementing green infrastructure
Roadways, especially high traffic ones, collect oil, dirt, and
garbage that is swept away in the rain and snow and into
the storm drains which empty directly into our waterways.
When plants, or even tall grass, are grown along roadsides,
water quality is greatly improved. A number of efforts are
demonstrated across the region.
Wa y n e C o u n t y :
Wayne County Department of Public
Services has been
implementing “grow
zones” since 2006.
Grow zones are areas
along roads where the
county has reduced
its lawn-mowing efforts and planted
native vegetation where the grass was allowed to grow
naturally. Initially, the county started with a few sites
to evaluate maintenance budgets while also improving
the look of specific areas and providing environmental
benefits. Now, the county has dozens of sites and has realized extensive cost savings. Total savings from reduced
maintenance (labor, equipment use, fuel) from 23 grow
zones over six years has reached over $800,000! When
you factor in the design and construction costs of planting native vegetation, they still save about $100,000 per
year – all while providing a healthier environment and
beautiful fields of flowers for residents to enjoy.
Washtenaw County and Ann
Arbor: The Washtenaw County
Water Resources Commissioner’s
office and the City of Ann Arbor
partner regularly to implement
green infrastructure as part of
the city’s Capital Improvement
Plan. This partnership, based on
the shared vision of enhancing
local water resources, has led to
consistent implementation of rain
gardens, bioswales, porous pavement, infiltration techniques, and
underground detention throughout
the county. According to Harry
Sheehan, Washtenaw County Water Resources, many of
these techniques are simple to plan for and install, require
very few plant species, and are easy to maintain. These
rain gardens not only improve water quality, they also
help provide a traffic calming effect and improve the
aesthetics of any area. Further, Ann Arbor has adopted
and is implementing a Green Streets policy, requiring
green infrastructure construction and reconstruction
along roadways.
Southfield and multiple partners: The “mixing bowl”
area– the intersection of I-696 and Telegraph Road ­–
has been identified as a high-priority area for extensive
green infrastructure opportunities. This high-traffic
area consists of almost 200 acres of grass that is woven
through the freeways, and on entrance and exit ramps. To
help improve the aesthetics and environmental health of
this area, the City of Southfield partnered with MDOT,
Oakland County, and the Road Commission for Oakland
County to develop a creative, long-term green infrastructure vision. Southfield’s goal is to reduce the amount of
grass that is mowed and only mow a 15-foot buffer along
the roads and ramps, allowing almost 80 percent of the
area to grow naturally. This updated maintenance approach will begin this spring.
9
emscope
SPRING - 2015
General Assembly
SEMCOG’s Spring General Assembly
March 26, 2015 • Detroit Institute of Arts • Detroit
Prior to the General Assembly, attendees toured the Detroit Institute of Arts, one of Southeast Michigan’s regional assets. Museum
docents had some interesting insights into the art during the tours.
Members met in caucuses to elect delegates and alternates to the
Executive Committee.
10
Kathy Vosburg, Macomb County
Commissioner and SEMCOG
Chair, presided over SEMCOG’s
General Assembly.
Graham Beal, Detroit
Institute of Arts
Director, President,
and CEO welcomed
SEMCOG’s General
Assembly to the DIA.
Mandy Grewal,
Pittsfield Township
Supervisor and Chair of
SEMCOG’s Finance
and Budget Committee,
presented SEMCOG’s
2015-2016
Annual Budget and
Work Program
Summary for adoption.
Warren Evans, newly
elected Wayne County
Executive, was the keynote
speaker. He discussed the
current status of Wayne
County’s financial situation.
“We will work our way out
of this,” he said.
Congratulations to the 2015
Taubman Fellows announced
at the General Assembly.
(L-r) Helaine Zack, Oakland
County Commissioner, and
James Wickman, Hartland
Township Manager. They will
attend the prestigious program
for Senior Executives in
State and Local Government
at Harvard University this
summer.
What do you think is Southeast
Michigan’s greatest asset to attract
or grow business?
1. Strategic domestic and international
connections
2. Skilled workforce
3. Higher education
4. Ease of conducting business
5. Access to capital
Xuan Liu, SEMCOG Data Analysis, and Kathleen Lomako, SEMCOG Executive Director, led attendees in an interactive
discussion that kicked off the update of SEMCOG’s regional economic development strategy. Using keypad voting, attendees
weighed in on several important components of economic development.
11
emscope
SPRING - 2015
www.semcog.org
New look, same great regional information
SEMCOG’s new website launched in March. There are many new features to help you get the information you need.
We hope you’ve had a chance to visit and look around. Some highlights of what you’ll see when you get there are below.
The Menu button
sometimes called a
hamburger menu – is at
the top left of each page.
Click to expand or contract
sections to find what you’re
looking for. The arrows
let you know there is more
detail under a category.
When you find your item,
simply click again.
The Community Selection
tool lets you view data for a
particular community,
wherever it appears on the site.
You can change your selection
anytime.
Just below the Menu and
Community Selection tool
you’ll see three tabs that
highlight important
information we want to you
to see. To the right of the
image you’ll see a link to more
information or will give you
an action step to take.
The main section of the
home page displays links
to everywhere on the site.
‘Plans for the Region’ is
just that – find SEMCOG
plans and planning work
on a variety of topics.
News and information
for members, the media,
and public can be found to
the right.
Further down you can
see and register for
upcoming meetings.
SEMCOG’s community
data is the most popular
part of our site.
Community Profiles
has been expanded to
included building permit
information, and more
crash data.
12
SEMCOG has a lot of
information to share.
The new accordion
feature on some
content pages reveals
subsections of
information so you
can do less scrolling
and clicking and more
reading.
SEMCOG Members
(all seven counties are members)
Livingston County
Cities: Howell
Townships: Brighton, Genoa, Green Oak,
Hamburg, Hartland
Education: Livingston Educational Service Agency
Macomb County
Cities: Center Line, Eastpointe, Fraser, Mount
Clemens, New Baltimore, Richmond, Roseville,
St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights, Utica, Warren
Villages: New Haven, Romeo
Townships: Chesterfield, Clinton, Harrison, Lenox,
Macomb, Shelby, Washington
Education: Macomb Community College,
Macomb Intermediate School District
Monroe County
Cities: Luna Pier, Monroe
Villages: Dundee, South Rockwood
Townships: Bedford, Erie, Frenchtown, Milan,
Whiteford
Education: Monroe County Intermediate
School District, Monroe County
Community College
Oakland County
Cities: Auburn Hills, Berkley, Birmingham,
Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Clawson,
Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale,
Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Keego Harbor,
Lathrup Village, Madison Heights, Novi, Oak
Park, Orchard Lake Village, Pleasant Ridge,
Rochester, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, South
Lyon, Southfield, Sylvan Lake, Troy, Wixom
Villages: Beverly Hills, Holly, Lake Orion, Milford,
Oxford, Wolverine Lake
Townships: Addison, Bloomfield, Commerce,
Highland, Lyon, Independence, Milford,
Oakland, Orion, Royal Oak, Springfield,
Waterford, West Bloomfield, White Lake
Education: Oakland Schools
St. Clair County
Cities: Marine City, Marysville, Port Huron,
St. Clair
Villages: Capac
Townships: Clay, Cottrellville, Fort Gratiot, Ira,
Kimball, Port Huron, St. Clair
Education: St. Clair County Community College
Washtenaw County
Cities: Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter Milan, Saline,
Ypsilanti
Townships: Ann Arbor, Dexter, Lima, Northfield,
Pittsfield, Scio, Superior, Ypsilanti
Education: Washtenaw Community College,
Washtenaw Intermediate School District
Wayne County
Cities: Allen Park, Belleville, Dearborn, Dearborn
Heights, Detroit, Ecorse, Flat Rock, Garden
City, Gibraltar, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe
Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe
Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods, Hamtramck,
Harper Woods, Highland Park, Inkster, Livonia,
Melvindale, Northville, River Rouge, Rockwood,
Romulus, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton, Westland,
Woodhaven, Wyandotte
Townships: Brownstown, Canton, Grosse Ile,
Huron, Northville, Plymouth, Redford, Sumpter,
Van Buren
Education: Schoolcraft College, Wayne County
Community College District, Wayne County
Regional Education Service Agency
Associate Members
University of Michigan
University of Michigan/Dearborn
167 Total Members - April 2015
11
SEMCOG
SEMCOG
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Southeast
Michigan
Council
of
Governments
535 Griswold
Street,
Suiteof
300
Southeast
Michigan
Council
Governments
535
Griswold
Street,
Suite
300
Detroit,
Michigan
48226-3602
1001 Woodward Avenue • Suite 1400
Detroit, Michigan 48226-3602
Detroit, MI 48226-1904
PRESORTED
PRESORTED
FIRST
CLASS MAIL
FIRST
MAIL
U.S. CLASS
POSTAGE
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PAID MI
DETROIT,
DETROIT,
PERMIT
NO. MI
3981
PERMIT NO. 3981
emscope
A quarterly publication of SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, is the only organization
in Southeast Michigan that brings together all of the region’s governments to solve
regional challenges.
SEMCOG is creating success in Southeast Michigan by:
• Promoting informed decision making to improve Southeast Michigan and its local governments by providing insightful data analysis;
• Promoting the efficient use of tax dollars for both long-term infrastructure investment and shorter-term governmental efficiency;
• Solving regional issues that go beyond the boundaries of individual local governments;
• Delivering direct assistance to member governments in the areas of transportation, environment, and community and economic development; and
• Advocating on behalf of Southeast Michigan in Lansing and Washington.