The record

Everything this site claims comes from one of these. Where a document doesn’t say what we’d like it to say, it’s still here.

• Road Commission SS4A project presentation

  The agency's own presentation of the Safe Streets and Roads for All program: the crash analysis, the countermeasures, and the effectiveness figures it attaches to each one.

  Centerline rumble strips are credited with a 55% crash reduction; shoulder rumble strips with roughly 20%. Centerline strips are planned for all 130 miles.

  What it supports: Our claim that the cheapest, most effective measure in the project is already funded across every mile, independent of tree removal.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.

• SS4A public engagement survey results

  The 324 survey responses cited as public feedback in the road selection process.

  “Most respondents felt that Road Commission roads are fairly safe.”

  What it supports: Our answer to the claim that roads were selected using public feedback as well as crash history.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.

• Road Commission project FAQ

  The agency's published answers on clear zones, the 33-feet-from-centerline figure, tree replacement, and the October-to-March cutting window.

  The FAQ acknowledges that the centerline of the pavement may not be the centerline of the right-of-way.

  What it supports: Our argument that a single county-wide right-of-way width cannot be assumed address by address.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.

• Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners minutes

  The exchange between Chairperson Jen Strebs and county engineer Ryan Minkus on the crash statistics behind the project.

  “In a five-year period, there were only three serious or fatal accidents involving trees on those roadways. Two of them also included intoxication and wet conditions. … Chairperson Strebs said it was an extrapolated average.”

  What it supports: The central factual claim on this site: three tree-involved serious or fatal crashes in five years on the roads where 8,000 trees were marked.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.

• Roadside Vegetation Management Policy

  Adopted 1989 and amended three times since. The agency's standing written statement of how it manages vegetation in the right-of-way.

  What it supports: Our point that the agency already wrote rules for this, and that a 130-mile clear zone is hard to read as an application of them.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.

• Natural Beauty Road guidelines and designated roads

  The Road Commission's own program for roads designated for their natural beauty, and the four roads it has designated.

  What it supports: That the appearance of a Kalamazoo County road is, by the agency's own written position, worth protecting. The program covers county local roads and does not legally restrict maintenance — we are not claiming it binds them.

  We’re posting a stable copy of this one here shortly. Until then, it can be requested from the Road Commission directly.