A group formed to save a village where the corners of four Oakland County townships meet is now helping to spur a movement to bring Detroit and its inner and outer ring suburbs to the same table to deal with sprawl. The 4 Towns Citizens Action Team is the newest member of MEC.

Three years ago, 4 Towns Citizens Action Team (4 Towns CAT) brought together residents from Commerce, Waterford, West Bloomfield and White Lake to question, and eventually oppose, an alternative to alleviating traffic in the corridor which extends north from 14 Mile Road along Haggerty/Union Lake/Williams Lake Roads to M-59. The alternative was described in a study by the Giffels/Webster engineering firm commissioned by the four townships. It recommended a realignment of Union Lake and Williams Lake Roads at the four corners known as Union Lake Village. This would threaten the low-key shopping area where residents of all ages have gathered for years to meet, shop and enjoy a warm weather snack at the local Dairy Queen. It would also destroy a number of lake homes on Union Lake itself, diminishing the area's quality of life. The alternative also recommended that all three roads which form this corridor be widened to five lanes from their current two.

The corridor itself has been a center of controversy since the 1970s when the I-275 freeway was planned to be extended from 12 Mile Road north through this area of lakes, wetlands and woodlands in Oakland County, generally following the path of these three roads. Citizen groups fought this proposed freeway, and eventually only a four-plus mile "Haggerty Connector" (M-5) was built in the right of way. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prevented any construction past the current terminus. (The four- to six-lane Connector now comes to a dead-end at two-lane Pontiac Trail one quarter mile west of two-lane Haggerty Road.)

If widened to five lanes, the existing Haggerty/Union Lake/Williams Lake road corridor may well serve as the beginning of the next ring of sprawl circling the City of Detroit.

The 4 Towns CAT, led by Union Lake resident Julie LeBlanc, with vice presidents from each township and a 15-member board, quickly incorporated and went to work researching the impact a five-lane road would have on the environment (which includes eight lakes), safety, quality of life and the alleviation of traffic problems along the corridor and beyond. They put together a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the results of their research, which clearly concluded that a three-lane alternative with safety paths, timed lights and other amenities was the best alternative. They presented it first to the Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC), then to boards of all four townships, requesting that they pass resolutions stating that they wanted no more than three lanes along this corridor. All but Commerce Township passed such resolutions, which have been sent to the RCOC and SEMCOG with requests that plans of both be revised to incorporate these requests.

As 4 Towns CAT's action progressed, it became obvious that the 20-year-old Commerce Township Downtown Development Authority (DDA), which takes in an area bordering part of Haggerty Road, has a vested interest in seeing the expansion of the road. (This area at the township's eastern border is comprised of vacant land interspersed with small commercial development. It is not a "downtown.") As the DDA laid plans to purchase two golf courses (more than 300 acres) and build a five-lane road through them directly across from the terminus of the Haggerty Connector, its interest in widening Haggerty Road itself became even clearer. Current plans include a large outdoor mall on the golf course property.

"A road through the golf courses would essentially extend the Haggerty Connector for another mile-plus to the north. The right-of-way would disrupt more than 40 acres of wetlands in the already-deteriorated Hayes Creek basin of the Huron River," says Earl Whitlock, 4 Towns CAT vice president for Commerce Township. "The EPA denied a permit for the Connector in this same area."

4 Towns CAT continues to circulate petitions supporting the three-lane alternative for the Haggerty/Union Lake/Williams Lake corridor already signed by more than 650 people. The group has held a number of meetings attended by 100-300 people to inform residents about corridor alternatives and walkability options. Most recently, it has joined forces with a number of groups, including MEC, which represent a cross-section of Detroit, inner and outer ring suburbs and statewide organizations.

"I think 4 Towns CAT is at a crossroads right now," says its chair, Julie LeBlanc. "We are doing everything we can do here in our communities. We think we can do even more by joining with other groups with similar goals, and this gives us a broader view as we plan our future efforts."

For information on 4 Towns CAT: (248) 363-6128 (juliejack3@aol.com) or (248) 788-3940 (lorna408@aol.com).

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