The Michigan Department of Transportation recently proposed a new set of rules for its rest areas and carpool lots including a ban on camping, a 48-hour limit on vehicle stays, a requirement for dogs to stay on leashes and regulations on dumping wastewater or vehicle parts. The proposed rules would apply to all properties it maintains throughout the state, including 267 carpool lots, 82 roadside parks, 61 highway rest areas, 23 scenic turnouts and 14 welcome centers. If approved, the rules would be enforced by local law enforcement, with a violation resulting in a misdemeanor charge. The public will have an opportunity to offer feedback sometime this year.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, Aaron Jenkins, MDOT university region communications representative, wrote the motivation behind the proposed regulations was to address complaints from the public.
“MDOT has struggled for years to respond to public complaints regarding the improper use of MDOT-controlled facilities,” Jenkins wrote. “Complaints generally involve the behaviors of others somehow negatively impacting safety, health, or obstruction to others wishing to use the facility as the facility was intended to be used.”
According to Jenkins, hesitation from law enforcement to enforce MDOT policies has been a challenge. Jenkins said this hesitation results from a lack of knowledge on previous rules such as the allotted time for overnight parking and overnight stay protocol at Michigan rest areas.
“MDOT has had internal rules for many years that have not addressed behavior negatively impacting controlled facilities,” Jenkins wrote. “Law enforcement has been hesitant to enforce MDOT’s internal rules/policies due to the lack of promulgated rules. Rest areas are not designed, operated, nor staffed to be able to facilitate long-term habitation.”
In an interview with The Daily, Eric Hufnagel, CEO of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, said he questioned MDOT’s reasoning for the proposal.
“My initial response was, ‘Is this a problem?’” Hufnagel said. “I don’t know whether or not there’s anything that provides us guidance about what kind of documentation there is of this being an ongoing problem that is causing issues with respect to others using the facilities, making it unable for people to find places to park, etc. … it just seems like it’s kind of coming out of the blue, and (I) would like to have a little bit more information about it.”
In an email to The Daily, Kristen Schweighoefer, Washtenaw County Health Department environmental health director, wrote MDOT aimed to address health and safety concerns.
“The proposed rules aim to address community health and environmental safety concerns that have been reported to MDOT,” Schweighoefer wrote. “Overall, the rules aim to improve those concerns and provide a way to enforce concerns they are seeing.”
In an interview with The Daily, Medical School student Amanda Casetti, a publicity leader of Wolverine Street Medicine, said that in their experience with WSM, they have not seen issues with people living in rest stops and carpool lots.
“I have gone and helped give people basic need support, like giving them food, water, hygiene supplies and information about housing,” Casetti said. “I have not personally encountered any issues with it… it’s just where people are living and that’s where we’re going to meet them — where they’re at to try to meet their needs.”
Jenkins compared the rationale behind MDOT’s proposed 48-hour parking limit to similar regulations in other states.
“Based on general use trends for facilities, 48 hours was considered reasonable for facility short-term use,” Jenkins wrote. “MDOT also wants to keep the Short-Term timeframe consistent for all facilities. Many states limit parking at rest areas to within a range of 2 to 12 hours. In keeping with the intent of rest areas to provide a place of respite for a weary traveler, 48 hours is more than appropriate to allow drivers the ability to pull off and sleep until such time as they have recovered enough to safely continue their travel.”
In an interview with The Daily, Lisa Chapman, MCAH director of public policy, expressed concern about how the enforcement of the ban may impact the homeless population. Chapman said despite public complaints, there aren’t other alternatives for those without living accommodations.
“People who are homeless don’t have the money to pay for a fine or a jail fee or a court fee or anything, and it’s just adding additional barriers on top of people that already have many,” Chapman said. “They wouldn’t be sleeping in a camping area if they had money for a motel. So I mean, what are we trying to gain with this policy?”
Casetti said they see no benefits to the ban.
“I think from the perspective of homelessness, I don’t see any clear benefits of this rule, because my understanding of the rule is that there will not be a meaningfully different system to connect people to housing than the one that already exists,” Casetti said.
Daily Staff Reporter Kayla Lugo can be reached at klugo@umich.edu.
