Tienken needs resurfacing from adams to rochester road

I have traveled Livernois for many years and noticed the need for repair. I am delighted to know the road is being considered a paving project. However, the tall weeds, ditches and lack of maintenance along the road is an eyesore. They appear to be in violation of the 6 inch weed ordinance with no enforcement. We are so conscientious of certain beautification projects while other parts of the city are an urban blight. Paving is definitely necessary but only a portion of the valuation and esthetics to our community unless the sides of the road are tended also.

Has anyone else noticed the second house on the southeast corner of Adams? The whole yard, tall grass, etc. makes me think we have a slum landlord in the area.

http://rochester.patch.com/blog_posts/lets-propose-a-new-tienken-parkway

Starting in 2013 Tienken Road, Livernois east to Sheldon Rd. construction engineer: Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) 877.858.4804, proposed start date: spring 2013, anticipated completion date: Fall 2013. This road improvement will permanently change the total character of northern Rochester Hills. I'm not in favor of what is proposed by the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC). In a nutshell their plan is all about big trucks, high speed cars and commuter traffic! Their plan is a 3 lane 50mph design speed, with occasional deceleration lanes which will widen the road to 4 and 5 lanes. Their plans also calls for a massive roundabout at the corner of Livernois Road and Tienken Road. Plus the expensive taking and destruction of homes and some business.

note: Roundabout -- there is no money in the budget for any kind of signalized lighting that would aid the handicapped or your children to walk or ride bikes through this new pedestrian dangerous roundabout. And the landscape plan for the center of the roundabout is grass seed. Kristin do they now have money for lights?

Kristin, when did the Road Commission come up with the new number $13.4 million,
and thanks for your new post.

I agree that Tieken needs to be repaired from Rochester to Adams. The road is terrible. Accidents almost happen daily because of people trying to avoid the bad parts of the road.

It's cool Marie, our City Council doesn't have the money to do that maintenance because they have spent 40K on that new LED sign (which will cost about $1000 a month to fix) and 100K to get that proposal passed to allow for the new Police funding to not be withdrawn out of the General Fund. So we'll have to wait. The Dequindre exit on M-59 has a new road/bridge, but the medians have 3 foot high weeds coming out of the center of them. I'm about to do it myself, since I can't count on our City.

Renee C - Really, accidents almost every day?

Great points all. Bigger, wider, faster roads will lead to more accidents, lower property values, lower aesthetic value and overall a less walkable community. Next they might build those concrete sound walls along Tienkern. Scot does have a valid proposal for Tienken, one that we will probably never see. The corner of Tienken and Rochester belongs to Rochester Hills and not the city of Rochester so you can forget about it blending with the feel of downtown Rochester. The look and feel of Rochester Hills is of subdivisions and strip malls, some built to resemble towns. It is great that we are getting bridges and roads fixed but to continue to widen roads will turn Rochester Hills into Sterling Heights. Nothing against Sterling Heights but there is no congruent feel to a city of subdivisions that surround a mall.

Please, can we simply ask that both the Avon and Livernois repaving NOT happen at the same time? I think the residents of the Avon/Livernois/Crooks area will agree with me that we have lived with enough construction difficulties already.

So can I expect to see any of you at the meeting this Thursday?

As a person that regularly drives this stretch of Tienken 2-3 times on a normal day, I look forward to these improvements. The road is naturally tree lined on both sides most of the way and the 3 lanes will make it much safer and efficient method to drive cross town without entering downtown Rochester. It will be an attractive road that moves traffic efficiently.

Did we have such a controversy when Walton was improved to 5 lanes?

Regarding roundabouts, I have driven them for years in Europe, on the east coast and now here. They are efficient ways to move traffic and are safe; people just need to learn how to use them. My wife first objected to these roundabouts when they started putting them in our area, now she is a huge fan.

Progress means we need to make some of our roads more efficient and safe, I believe this project does that. I am looking forward to this getting completed in 2013.

The report done in 2010 is very thorough looks at all options and impacts (all 58 pages worth) http://ww3.rochesterhills.org/TienkenRdImpProjEAFINAL.pdf . Daryl, the road is currently lined with trees but will not be when finished. In order to accommodate 3 lanes (41ft) and pedestrian paths on both sides the trees will be removed. $4,000,000 for right of way will be spent to buy and tear down 6 houses, one vacant parcel, one veterinary office and one medical office. This is because the peak of Tienken between Pine and Winry will get shaved down 8 feet to improve sight distance and make driveways too steep for those homes and businesses. Also a noise study was done and determined that several areas are above comfortable levels now but because of the driveways onto Tienken, a continuous sound wall cannot be built so there are no plans to reduce road noise. They will just have to deal with it. We do need a fast way around downtown but doing this will permanently alter the landscape and quality of life for those living in this corridor. I guess they will just have to deal with it.

Roundabouts are great....if you understand how to drive them. We were all scared to death when we began driver's training and now just drive. Look to the left and DON'T stop.
The only valid, not emotional, comment is re the breaks in traffic for the subdivisions. Anyone (like Road Commission types) with real knowledge about this problem?
And I remember a post about 4-5 years ago from someone in Clarkston who didn't want roadwork done. "If I wanted to have roads like Rochester Hills, I'd live there."
Remember that Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township have over 100,000 residents and we all use Rochester Hills roads. We're not country anymore.
One man's poison......

"Roundabouts are great....if you understand how to drive them. We were all scared to death when we began driver's training and now just drive. Look to the left and DON'T stop. "

You have to stop if someone is in the circle in the lane you want to enter -- otherwise, you get rear ended when you enter the circle. Don't we have to yield to those already in the circle? The places where I see "accidents" (people not paying attention) happen are when someone enters the circle on an outside lane and someone in an inside lane is in the process of exiting at the next right. The person exiting crosses into through the outside lane when exiting and the person in the outside lane hits them. In a standard intersection, you wait til the light is green. Not hard. I see many "accidents" in the Vandyke/18 Mile circle.

People are in too much of a hurry. A standard intersection works. Stop on red and go on green -- it's not hard. We don't need this huge circle that will throw people from their homes and take down some very large and impressive trees. I am not a tree hugger by any means, but we don't need to waste time and money on redoing an intersection that already works. Resurface and be done with it. We've had enough construction already!

Scot -- I knew there was something about Sommerville that I didn't like. Nice to see her have the "not in my backyard" attitude.

Its about character and home values. This project will further erode what differentiates Rochester hills from a typical Detroit suburb. If you want wide roads with strip malls, just keep supporting these projects as they come along. Kiss your home values goodbye. Commodity pricing won't bode well for our city.

Think about how this will hit you directly and voice your opposition to the road commission. Enough pressure and potential lawsuits can stop this project. Nothing wrong with repaving a road or adding nice boulevards, but this will look awful. Do you really think Bloomfield or Plymouth would allow this.

Is city planning dead? Will mankind ever learn from the mistakes of the past? Look at the history of southeast Michigan. Cities were platted and planned then let run wild. When Woodward laid out his original plan for Detroit he called for wide boulevards and was laughed at. They weren't laughing in the 20's when homes and businesses were demolished to make way for the widening of the road from Grand Circus to Pontiac. The churches on Woodward near Comerica Park were chopped in the middle and the steeples moved back. When Grand Boulevard was laid out, Detroit citizens thought it was absurd to build such a large road so far away from downtown Detroit. That road is 8 lanes wide at some points with much abandonment along it. As the population exploded larger north/south and east/west roads were needed to get around. The highways uprooted whole communities, destroying much of the neighborhood fabric of Detroit. From south to north: Grand Boulevard, Davison Freeway, 8 Mile, 696, 16 Mile, Hall Road to 23 Mile Road each was built up to ease congestion, each too small already by the time they opened. Will 26 Mile through Tienken be next? The car has enabled us to work far from where we live, but is destroying the areas where we live. While most of southeast Michigan is not ready to accept better design alternatives yet, but we can at least stop repeating the cycle and seek better alternatives to widening roads and destroying communities.