Transportation & Roads

Bad roads could turn tourists away

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By JUSTINE McGUIRE
Capital News Service
LANSING – Michigan’s deteriorating roads aren’t equipped to handle the extra traffic from the growing number of tourists throughout the state, and some officials fear bad roads could turn tourists away or give them a bad first impression. A lot of money goes into Pure Michigan and it’s been “wildly successful,” but the first impression of Michigan for many people is bad, dirty roads full of potholes that detract from the state’s beauty, said Kirk Steudle, director of the Department of Transportation (MDOT). Pure Michigan is an ad campaign that promotes the state as a tourism destination. Indicators of statewide tourism increases include record hotel occupancy in 2012 and increased out-of-state spending, according the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Pat Black, director of the Marquette County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said, “It’s great the state gives us $25 million a year for Pure Michigan, but there are more and more people on the roads wearing them down.”
“We’re really shooting ourselves in the foot,” Black said.

Business & Economy

City Center II Delayed Again

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Some five months after the predevelopment agreement had been signed and demolition was scheduled to begin, the future site of the proposed City Center II redevelopment project still sits vacant and untouched. City officials argue it wasn’t in the residents and tax payer’s best interests to move forward with the plan proposed last spring. “As we looked at the financial projections for the project, the changes in property values and the future projections, we felt that the project from a financial standpoint simply wasn’t feasible,” said Tim Dempsey, the East Lansing planning and community development director. Now the focus is turning to drawing up new proposals for the site and searching for new developers. The former development company Strathmore is no longer involved with the project going forward.

Environment

Greener roofs could curb greenhouse gas, study shows

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By HALEY WALKER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Planting the rooftops in Detroit would have the same environmental benefit as removing 10,000 SUVs from the road, a new study shows. Michigan State University researchers found that planting vegetation on roofs can store heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas emitted by burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal for transportation, power production and industrial development. High concentrations are linked to global warming. “This study is the first of its kind,” said head researcher Kristin Getter.