After months of debate and discussion, the Ann Arbor City Council voted 10-1 to offer an endorsement of the ReImagine Washtenaw vision for Washtenaw Avenue.

Even some council members who made it known they had concerns about certain aspects of the 210-page corridor improvement study report, which recommends significantly transforming the corridor over the next several years, ended up voting in favor of the plan, saying they felt comfortable that nothing was going to happen overnight and certainly not without further analysis.

The resolution approved in the early morning hours Tuesday states the City Council supports the ReImagine Washtenaw vision with the understanding that more detailed analysis will be required, as well as coordination with the Michigan Department of Transportation, to implement the report's recommendations.

The lone dissenter was 2nd Ward Council Member Jane Lumm, who lives off Washtenaw Avenue and shares concerns she's heard from others that elements of the study could create even worse traffic congestion.

Lumm proposed a substitute resolution Monday night that would have offered an endorsement of improving conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders but emphasizing that the highest priority must be improving vehicle traffic flow. It also called for getting a second opinion on the study's recommendation of a wide median limiting direct left turns and requiring "Michigan lefts" at many places.

The substitute resolution, similar to one Lumm proposed two months ago, was voted down by the same 6-5 split as in April, with Council Members Mike Anglin, Jack Eaton, Sumi Kailasapathy and Stephen Kunselman backing Lumm's proposal.

The ReImagine Washtenaw report looks at a 5-mile stretch of Washtenaw Avenue from Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor to the water tower in Ypsilanti, laying out a vision for safer pedestrian crossings, faster transit service, bicycle lanes, median boulevards, an improved sidewalk network and new mixed-use development.

The plan is to transform the roadway into a more pedestrian-friendly, bikeable thoroughfare using a "Complete Streets" approach with all users in mind.

The report also lays out a vision for making it a true transit-oriented corridor with transit "super stops" that would provide enhanced amenities for bus riders.

City planners also believe creating a wide boulevard strip down the middle of Washtenaw Avenue would improve traffic flow, creating a system relying on Michigan lefts. It's estimated that doing away with left-turn movements at major intersections would reduce congestion and increase traffic flow 20-50 percent.

The three other communities with a stake in the ReImagine Washtenaw initiative -- Pittsfield and Ypsilanti townships and Ypsilanti city -- previously passed resolutions endorsing the report and were waiting for Ann Arbor to do the same.

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said he's glad the city is getting on board with its regional partners to look to the future.

"I believe it articulates a progressive vision for a corridor that will someday work for pedestrians, will work for cyclists, and will work for automobiles and mass transit, too," Taylor said. "It will be a place where commerce will thrive. To the east of U.S. 23, it will be a place where residential development will thrive."

Council Member Sabra Briere, D-1st Ward, noted Washtenaw Avenue is an MDOT trunkline. She said there's no way it's not going to be vehicular-centric.

"Indeed, the problem is it's vehicular-centric to the point where it's hostile for people who aren't using vehicles," she said. "That is part of the impetus to create access not just by cars onto the street, but by other users to the street."

Briere said the city isn't committing to building a median any specific place and the images presented in the document are only conceptual.

"They're simply a notion that this might work, this might be a place where we do this," she said. "When the time comes over the next two or three or four decades that something happens, then we'll have engineers looking at every aspect. We may have cars that drive themselves by then. We may have everyone converted to smart cars that occupy a good deal less space. We may have mass transit that actually moves large numbers of people. It's difficult to tell the future."

Wendy Rampson, the city's planning manager, said adoption of the ReImagine Washtenaw report allows the city to begin planning for the future and getting property owners to incrementally set aside the necessary right-of-way for future corridor improvements as individual properties are redeveloped.

City officials acknowledge it will take many years to acquire all of the right-of-way to make some of the significantly transformative changes recommended in the report, though they're hopeful they'll be able to begin chipping away at some improvements for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders before then.

A major reconstruction on Washtenaw Avenue is not in MDOT's short-term plans, and city officials believe it will be at least a decade before any funding materializes.

Nathan Voght, the county's ReImagine Washtenaw project manager, said it's still necessary to plan for the future.

"We're all part of this regional effort, and it's been going on for a number of years, and the other three partners, including the county as the fourth partner, they're all very enthusiastic about the project," he said.

"It does come down to funding. It does come down to the incremental approach that we're going to need to take. And again, getting ordinances up to date and getting those things in place to set the stage for the land use pattern changes we're seeking as well."

Council Member Kirk Westphal, D-2nd Ward, said adopting the ReImagine Washtenaw report basically makes improvements to Washtenaw go from a zero possibility to a remote possibility. He called it a living document, a blueprint for creating a safer and more attractive environment, with more successful land uses.

Council members were reminded Monday night that ReImagine Washtenaw started as an economic development initiative.

"This corridor is held back by its function and its aesthetics," Westphal said. "Part of what we need to look at, I believe, is property values. Moving traffic faster, to my mind and from what I've seen, does not necessarily correlate with increased property values. Places people want to be have a chance at growing much greater in value."

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com or 734-623-2529 or follow him on Twitter.