Earth Day 2021: MDOT efforts to balance mobility and environmental protections

Talking Michigan Transportation

In recognition of Earth Day, this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features a conversation with Margaret Barondess, who manages the environmental section at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

More than 50 years ago, Congress adopted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Barondess reflects and explains how the act informs planning for transportation projects in Michigan and MDOT’s efforts to at once protect our air, waterways, wildlife, and plants and minimize inconvenience to travelers.

While critics of NEPA have argued for scaling back the need for environmental impact statements, supporters tout NEPA’s role in saving money, time, lives, historical sites, endangered species, and public lands while encouraging compromise and cultivating better projects with more public support.

Barondess also talks about the challenges and rewards she and her team have experienced in recent years from listening to community members who would be affected by a project like the I-94 modernization project in Detroit and the I-75 Corridor Conservation Action Plan in Monroe County.

Among specific endangered species in Michigan is the eastern massasauga rattlesnake.

Other references:

The Detroit Free Press this week ranked invasive species in Michigan. (Subscription)

The Natural Resources Defense Council on the imperative of maintaining NEPA.

Creative MDOT efforts to support Michigan’s critical bee population with sun flowers along freeways.

Some creative solutions to protect wildlife and political theater.