Northwest Michigan Council of Governments

The Grand Vision Reports

 

The Grand Vision Document, Toolbox, and Handbook   available at TheGrandVision.org

The Grand Vision Transportation Network  available at TheGrandVision.org

 

 

The Grand Vision Document

This cornerstone document explains the Grand Vision guiding principles, project timeline, partners and calls to action. It includes an illustrative map that demonstrates a regional growth concept that is a reflection of community decisions made about transportation and land use preferences, as well as the preferences for economic growth, housing, agriculture, and the natural environment expressed at scenario planning workshops and through the Vision Decision community process.

Document Roadmap

There are 17 Grand Vision reports, each information-rich with general topics, specific analysis, and graphic data.

This roadmap is designed to give readers a cross-referencing system in order to quickly locate topics of interest within the many documents of the Grand Vision reports. Each report has a task number assigned to it, as an identifier for the consultants who prepared the reports.

There are three ways to locate information:

  • By Task Number
  • By Report Name
  • By Report Description

 

Task 1  Past/Existing Transportation and Land Use Trends

This report analyzes past and existing local and regional plans, and other studies relevant to the land use and transportation system of the area.

 

Task 2  Public Awareness, Education and Engagement

The public involvement phase of the study and the results are documented in four reports:

  • TCAPS - Grand Vision Student Assembly Summary is a synopsis of the workshops held at the Traverse City Central and West high schools.
  • Visual Preference Survey: Summary of Results presents a visual preference survey, completed by Fregonese and Associates, that shapes the workshop maps and chips to local conditions.
  • Grand Traverse Futures, Input Session on Regional Growth/Planning is the documentation of the Advanced Strategy Lab conducted by Harris Interactive on June 3, 2008. The results of this document were used to help shape the values research (the following report).
  • Grand Traverse Land Use Study: Values Research details the values research conducted by Harris Interactive for the Grand Vision Study.

The tabulated results of the Grand Vision Decision process were reported in an electronic spreadsheet that is available upon request.

 

Task 3  Transportation, Socio-Economic and Land Use Data Development

In this study, we present the analysis of the technical data we collected, which is documented within eight reports.

Task 3.1 - Traffic Crash Analysis is the core study in this report, and includes a number of other deliverables. Geographic Information Systems maps (workshop maps) are available upon request.

Task 3.2 - Socio-Economic Report presents projected trends of population, demographic and economic driver information.

Task 3.3 - Gap Analysis studies the gaps that exist between current trends and the Regional Values and Vision established through the public involvement process.

Task 3.4 - Travel Demand Model Methodology documents the processes we used to develop a computerized travel demand model for the core study area.

Task 3.5 includes two reports:

Socioeconomic Impact Report analyzes the changes in land use, risks/opportunities, impacts and costs of the four possible future growth scenarios established as a part of the public involvement process.

Land Use Scenario Environmental Report inventories the existing conditions found along the 11 Corridors of Significance approved by the TC-TALUS Board of Directors. Consultant input and the review and recommendation of the TC-TALUS Technical Advisory Committee created this inventory.

Task 3.6 (combined with Task 4.2) - Transportation Gap Analysis and Refined Corridor/Intersection Analysis compares current capacity to projected future demand on the roadways and intersections along the Corridors of Significance. The consultant also makes recommendations to address areas of concern. The subject matter of these two reports is best presented as one document. Included in these reports is The Grand Vision Scorecard. It doesn't individually address deliverables of the study, but presents the public involvement process and results in a readable format. It addresses a number of work tasks and is intended to augment numerous other reports.

 

Task 4 Transportation Data Analysis

This task provides analysis of the complete set of transportation data consultants gathered.

Task 4.1 - National Functional Classification System Changes recommends the potential changes to this system to help implement the Grand Vision.

Task 4.2 (combined with Task 3.6) - Transportation Gap Analysis and Refined Corridor/Intersection Analysis compares current capacity to projected future demand on the roadways and intersections along the Corridors of Significance.

Task 4.3 - Multi-Modal Transportation Systems Plan Final Report analyzes various modes of transportation and the applicability to the transportation system of the area.

 

Task 5 Final Recommendations and Resources

This report consists of recommended strategies to help us achieve the vision of the project.

Task 5.1 - Develop Recommended Transportation Strategies sets forth the consultants' recommendations for transportation investment for the near future, as well as decision-making for the next 50 years.

Task 5.2 - The Grand Vision Community Resources Guide and Toolbox and associated resources compact disc provides the community with resources to assist in the implementation of the seven identified issue areas.

 

The Northwest Michigan Council of Governments will receive your comments or questions regarding the Grand Vision Transportation Reports. Inquiries will be directed to Matt Skeels, Director, TC-TALUS.