A $6 million "resurfacing and road diet" project on Woodward Avenue could bring the first bicycle lanes to the historic state highway along a 2-mile segment in southeast Oakland County.

"With resurfacing planned for April 2020, the cities of Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge are finalizing plans to transform the corridor with streetscape and sustainability improvements for bicyclists, pedestrians, transit and all users of the street," according to a report on local priorities released this week by U.S. Rep. Andy Levin's office.

But local officials downplayed the report Wednesday, confirming the idea is being studied, but insisting there are no definitive plans to reduce the number of lanes on Woodward through the two cities or to install bike lanes.

A study underway in the two cities includes a Woodward Avenue Bicycling and Walking Safety Study survey that asks 34 questions, mostly about residents' concerns while traveling on Woodward — between 8 Mile and I-696 — by motor vehicle, on foot and by bicycle. A series of nine bicycle-specific questions asks how comfortable respondents would be traveling by bike on different pathways, such as five types of bike lanes including buffered and parking-protected lanes.

The existing layout of Woodward includes eight lanes of traffic divided by a median through most of the segment. Road diets aim to make roads safer for multiple types of users, usually in part by decreasing lanes for motor vehicles.

Although Levin's report indicates resurfacing is planned for next spring, officials with the state and in Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge on Wednesday said nothing has yet been confirmed.

Since it's a state highway, any changes to Woodward would require state approval.

"MDOT is going to be working on M-1 next year and the community asked us about a road diet. We advised them to do the research, come up with plans and we can discuss what might be able to be done," Diane Cross, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, said in an email Wednesday.

A statement from Pleasant Ridge City Manager Jim Breuckman said "we are in the planning stages but there is no timetable to implement changes yet. Certainly not in 2020."

Ferndale planning manager Justin Lyons said in an email Wednesday that Levin's office had requested infrastructure priorities, and the city responded with objectives for Woodward Avenue.

"There are not specific plans at this time, but the (city) is interested in partnering with MDOT on the future of Woodward Avenue," Lyons said.

Ferndale has had several road diets on less-trafficked roads such as in 2015 on East Nine Mile in downtown as well as one more recently on Livernois. Others have been announced in Hazel Park, along John R between Nine Mile and 10 Mile, as well as along a segment of Nine Mile in Oak Park.

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Detroit had one last year on East Jefferson Avenue that includes protected bike lanes for several miles. And Royal Oak this month is finishing one up, completing signage for bike lanes on Campbell Road after recently adding them along segments of Washington Avenue and north Main Street. The city now has 3.8 miles of dedicated bicycle lanes.

"I don’t know where else we would put on-street bike lanes, unless we went to Woodward," Royal Oak city engineer Matt Callahan said in an interview this week regarding the city's recent bike-lane projects. He said it could make sense, helping improve connections along the corridor such as Beaumont Hospital and Birmingham.

Contact Robert Allen on Twitter @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com.