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Transportation Commission approves 2025 work plan and meeting schedule as residents press for faster Packard safety fixes
Summary
Ann Arbor’s Transportation Commission approved its 2025 work plan and meeting calendar Dec. 18 and heard multiple public comments calling for quicker safety measures on Packard Street after recent crashes. Commissioners and staff discussed fast-build options and the timing limits imposed by a federal grant’s NEPA requirement.
The Ann Arbor Transportation Commission voted to approve its 2025 work plan and meeting schedule on Dec. 18, 2024, after members discussed additions and accepted several commissioners’ suggested amendments.
The approved work plan lists topics staff expects to address next year — including the commission annual report, elections for chair and vice chair, the city’s fiscal-year policy input, capital projects and resurfacing updates, traffic calming and speed management, a quiet-zone study, and follow-ups on the Safe Streets for All grant. Commissioners also approved the proposed meeting dates for 2025, which will continue to use Zoom and generally occur on the third Wednesday of each month.
Public comment preceding the vote highlighted safety concerns on Packard Street. Resident Lauren Bondurant recounted being struck by a sport utility vehicle on Packard, saying she sustained two broken ribs and lost her primary means of transportation; she urged the commission to prioritize narrower vehicle lanes and protected bike infrastructure. Former commission chair Molly Kleinman called attention to multiple vulnerable-user crashes on Packard in recent weeks and said quick-build changes could have prevented some incidents.
Commissioners and staff acknowledged the corridor’s risk. Commissioner Pete and others urged immediate remedial steps; Lieutenant Mike Sherba said the police department had launched extra patrols and an early December call-out and that engineering had raised lighting improvements as a possible mitigation. Staff emphasized that certain treatments — notably pavement-marking work and larger capital projects — may be constrained by seasonal construction windows and federal grant conditions. Several commissioners asked staff to return with options for rapid, interim measures while larger projects proceed.
The vote on the work plan was made and seconded and passed by voice vote; the meeting schedule also passed by voice vote. Commissioners noted a request to explore moving the December 2025 meeting date and asked staff to report back in January.
What’s next: staff will incorporate the requested additions into the work plan and return with the finalized annual report in January for approval; commissioners signaled they want staff to outline rapid-build mitigation options for Packard ahead of larger projects planned for 2026.
