• Meridian Township's new "Promoting Active Communities" award

UPDATE: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township's Planning Department recently earned the community an award for promoting active, healthy lifestyles. They tediously sorted through questionnaires to receive the Promoting Active Communities award they had recently been seeking. “I mean these were pretty involved, they wanted you to contact school districts, to talk to employers in the community, they wanted to know about opportunities for healthy lifestyles in the township," said Gail Oranchak, Meridian Township's Principal Planner. However, a shiny new trophy for the office was not what the Planning Department really wanted when they applied for the award. “The reason why we wanted to apply for this was because it was a requirement of the grant we sought to have a Complete Streets Ordinance, and Complete Streets is a way to design streets so that everybody feels comfortable using the streets, not just automobiles," said Oranchak. One significant effect a Complete Streets Ordinance would have is a condensing of certain four-lane roads in the area to three-lane roads. LeRoy Harvey, Meridian Township's Recycling coordinator, said this involves "turning a four lane, sort of an unsafe feeling four lane, very residential street into a much more comfortable three lane: it’s two car lanes, and two bike lanes, and a center turn lane." One of the roads in need of a "diet" that Harvey was talking about resides on the stretch of Haslett road just in between Park Lake and Merritt Roads. Oranchak and others working towards a Complete Streets Ordinance are looking to host a workshop for the township in January to educate the public on the topic and to hear public opinions.

ORIGINAL STORY: MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township's Promoting Active Communities award came with a substantial grant - find out how it will be used on Meridian Magazine.