Talking Michigan Transportation

• MDOT crews, other agencies respond to historic ice storm

  A few days after a massive ice storm rocked northern lower Michigan, many thousands remain without power while crews from power companies, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and other state and local agencies continue the cleanup and rebuilding process.Bill Wahl, MDOT North Region associate engineer for operations, who is coordinating department efforts, joins the podcast to provide an update on the recovery.Also joining is James Lake, MDOT North Region media relations specialist, who assists the Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) with communications. He talks about why falling ice necessitated closing the bridge three times in three days, including a record 30-hour period.Wahl and Lake grew up in the region and neither has seen anything like this ice storm and the resulting destruction. Wahl recounts utility workers who had been on power-restoration projects following hurricanes in the Southeast saying the scenes are as bad or worse as anything they’ve seen.Wahl says crews from several counties to the south, including Kent, Ottawa, Mason, Missaukee, Muskegon, Roscommon, Iosco and Wexford, were helping to clear roads.While the Mackinac Bridge re-opened Thursday morning, April 3, after a 30-hour closure, officials will continue to closely monitor conditions for falling ice. The MBA posted a video message on X from Bridge Director Kim Nowack about the falling ice, along with some photos from the bridge. More videos of falling ice that prompted the current closure were also posted on X. The bridge has closed roughly 30 times in the past 30 years, and the average closure duration is several hours. More frequently asked questions about falling ice and other topics are available on the MBA website. 

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• Tariffs, automated vehicles and zero-emission planes

  On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a repeat appearance by Joann Muller, the Detroit-based transportation correspondent for Axios. She talks about how tariffs are affecting the auto industry, how automakers are reacting and what the future might hold.Muller also shares insights from reporting on a new design for aircraft (a blended wing body airframe) that Delta Airlines and California-based Jet Zero say could make for net-zero emissions flying by 2050.Lastly, she talks about driverless Uber vehicles in Austin, Texas, and other developments in the evolution of automated vehicles. Muller also previews a new newsletter she’s launching, Axios Future of Mobility.

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• Road building 101

  Jason Gutting joins the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast this week to talk about his role as director of MDOT’s Bureau of Field Services.As talks heat up between Michigan lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over various road funding proposals, the discussion again turns to paving standards and practices.Gutting talks about standards and specifications for paving materials and how MDOT engineers confer with counterparts from across the country; innovations in road building, winter maintenance and operations; and ongoing challenges because of inflation and supply chain pressures since the pandemic began.  Gutting was previously the administrator of the Construction Field Services (CFS) division. He also worked in Operations and was the construction contracts engineer for CFS as well as the construction engineer and an assistant construction engineer at the MDOT Lansing Transportation Service Center (TSC).  Other references in the podcast: Gov. Whitmer’s Rebuilding Michigan programwww.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Projects-Studies/Rebuilding-Michigan-ProjectsMDOT winter road maintenance www.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Travel/Safety/Road-Users/Winter-Safety

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• Bill to protect Mackinac Bridge moves forward

  On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with state Sen. John Damoose and Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) Chairman Patrick “Shorty” Gleason about legislation to shore up protections of the bridge from trespassers. The Senate voted unanimously on March 13 in support of Senate Bill 71, which now heads to the House. This comes three years after some troubling incidents on the bridge involving people climbing a tower or otherwise trying to access the bridge to take photos, and another involving a bomb threat that closed the bridge on a busy weekend and disrupted travel for many hours. The MBA took the rare step at the time of adopting a resolution supporting the key facility designation. The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill, sponsored by then-state Rep. John Damoose, 99-6, in 2022, classifying the Mighty Mac and several other vital structures in the state as key facilities. The legislation later stalled in the Michigan Senate. Now, the Senate has reported out, unanimously, the new bill, sponsored by now state Sen. Damoose, which is narrower in focus, applying strictly to the Mackinac Bridge. The designation means trespassing on the bridge would be a felony offense. 

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• Evidence mounts that distracted driving laws make a difference

  On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, an update from Ryan McMahon of Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a Massachusetts-based firm that tracks data from drivers, participating voluntarily with their insurance carriers, to analyze statistics and driver behavior. McMahon spoke on the podcast previously, including a few months after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the law making it illegal to use a hand-held electronic device while driving.His analysis includes data on distracted driving in Michigan broken down by county. His firm is reporting updated numbers that show meaningful strides in the right direction. McMahon also cites preliminary data showing a reduction in crashes in Michigan in 2024.

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