$90 Million Highway Plan Cancelled

"With both stunning finality and a promise to finance a much less costly and damaging citizen-initiated transportation plan, the Michigan Department of Transportation this week formally canceled its nearly generation-old effort to build a $90 million bypass in Petoskey. But in ending its campaign to build the four-lane highway, the state Transportation Department also issued a unique challenge: It promised to pay for, but not lead, a locally-managed transportation plan. In effect, the state Department of Transportation is turning the transportation planning process over to local citizens and governments, and relegating itself to a technical assistance and financing role."