Yeah, there is no set CATA thread, but perhaps we could turn the CATA BRT thread I made into a CATA thread. Anyway, that's great to hear. Quite frankly, apart from the planning for the Route #1 upgrade, CATA has been lagging the kind of expansions in service you're seeing in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. By the end of this physical year will mark the first time in recent memory that The Rapid (in GR) passes CATA in ridership, and while Ann Arbor's AATA is quite a bit behind, they just passed a HUGE expansion of service in the other day. CATA needs to come up with a plan for expansion, because while CATA is a top-line service for a city this size, others are starting to catch up.
It's good we have this new route, but I'd like to at least see increased frequency on some of our existing major routes beyond if nothing else. I believe the Route #1 upgrade with BRT gets the headways under 10 minutes. On other major routes like the #5 down Cedar, I want to see headways for much of the day under 15 minutes.
You know, I was thinking the same thing the other day - CATA when I first moved to Lansing three years ago, and CATA today, are pretty much the same CATA. The line connecting LCC's two main campuses is a no brainer. This is a bit selfish of me since I live there, but I think there ought to be some service on Saginaw between Coolidge and Collingwood - probably I would try a long line running from downtown Lansing all the way out to Lake Lansing - I would call the lake a major amenity, but there is no way to get there from downtown without transferring in East Lansing.
A bus down Saginaw would be immensely useful. Although due to the speed of traffic, CATA would have to do cut-outs for the bus to stop in. There are sections where the right-of-way may be too small for cut-outs. I'm not sure what should be recommended there, besides stopping in traffic and creating a minor backup.
Honestly, any new bus routes planned on major thoroughfares should have some kind of BRT component to them. It doesn't have to be full-on BRT, but you could take out a traffic lane on so many of these streets and replace them with a bus lane and not adversely affect traffic too much. Even a shared lane - buses would only get them during peak hours - would make a huge difference. Give the buses traffic priority along the route (since it would not be bi-directional unless you take out a traffic lane on each side of the street), and you'd have a service that wouldn't be slow or overcrowded.
- I see that the state is finally planting trees along the elevated freeway embankments on the expanded US-127 by Frandor. I was so happy to see this, as I thought they weren't putting vegetation back. This is going to look really nice when mature.
- The building that houses the former Absolute Gallery is undergoing some pretty extensive reconstruction in Old Town.
- The black brick going up at the base of Marketplace looks very nice. I'm kind of dreading to see what the actual siding looks like above that, but for at least the first floor or two, you've got a very nice facade product. I'm not sure if they did this on purpose, but it pays homage to the dark brick at the base of the old Ottawa Street Station across the river.
David, where did you hear about the new CATA route, and when do you think CATA will formerly announce it? I see they haven't said anything on their website, yet.
I heard about the CATA route from another faculty member at the meeting of an LCC committee I'm on - I got the impression it was announced at a meeting at West Campus (they need the shuttle much more than the downtown campus, obviously), but I have no idea when it will be officially announced. Looking back at my notes - will run from 7:10 to 10:45 starting in the Fall, once an hour. It is a one-year pilot program.
The Lansing City Pulse had an article, last week, concerning some streetscape improvements on the westside of LCC's downtown campus:
By Labor Day, LCC aims to overhaul the stretch of Capitol between Genesee and Saginaw streets just beyond his front door.
Utility lines will be moved this summer into an alley immediately to the west, making room for a lush row of trees and 1920s-style streetlights that match most of downtown Lansing. A masonry sign similar to the one welcoming students on the corner of Shiawassee Street and Grand Avenue will be installed amid soon-to-be-planted greenery.
This doesn't make up for tearing down the homes on the corner, for me, anyway, but I really like that they are going to do the old fashioned streetlights. I think more parts of the city would benefit from the old fashioned street lights as a way to spur further streetscape and business improvements, even the modern, post-war areas of the city. In particular, I want to see them on Saginaw in between MLK and at least Pine. I'm also very happy to hear about the trees. I'm a huge proponent of beautification by way of street trees. This is already a fairly nice walk on Capitol, and this will make it even better and more neighborhood-like. And, moving the utilities to the alley is great. When you can't bury them, it's always best to move them out of sight when possible.
- A 10-foot-wide shared-use path will be constructed in DeWitt Township on the eastside of Old US 27 from the Lansing border at Sheridan Road to Northcrest Road, which is about a mile-and-a-half to the north. On the westside of the road will be a regular 5-foot-wide sidewalk. They eventually hope to connect this to the Lansing River Trail. It always blew my mind the few times I've been this far north that there weren't any kind of sidewalks along the road. I know it's a township, but it's always been weird. This area of the township is really trashy and needs some major cosmetic changes. Perhaps this is the first step in doing that.
- The Old Town Commcerial Association (OTCA) is getting its headquarters at 1232 Turner Street in the heart of Old Town expanded. They will add two additional floors to the one-story structure. The second floor will be a private office, and the third floor will be a 4,000 square foot private loft. The attached warehouse space will be converted to retail space and two parking bays. I guess this is mostly for the buildings owner, but space will be added for OTCA by renovating the existing ground floor structure.
Hood, I described as best as I could guess in my post just above your's. Sounds like the building owner will be building a private office above the current building, a private residential loft for himself on the third floor, and an renovation of the existing space of the OTCA on the first floor including turning some of the garage buildings into retail space.
Comments
It's good we have this new route, but I'd like to at least see increased frequency on some of our existing major routes beyond if nothing else. I believe the Route #1 upgrade with BRT gets the headways under 10 minutes. On other major routes like the #5 down Cedar, I want to see headways for much of the day under 15 minutes.
Sorry about the rant. lol
- I see that the state is finally planting trees along the elevated freeway embankments on the expanded US-127 by Frandor. I was so happy to see this, as I thought they weren't putting vegetation back. This is going to look really nice when mature.
- The building that houses the former Absolute Gallery is undergoing some pretty extensive reconstruction in Old Town.
- The black brick going up at the base of Marketplace looks very nice. I'm kind of dreading to see what the actual siding looks like above that, but for at least the first floor or two, you've got a very nice facade product. I'm not sure if they did this on purpose, but it pays homage to the dark brick at the base of the old Ottawa Street Station across the river.
David, where did you hear about the new CATA route, and when do you think CATA will formerly announce it? I see they haven't said anything on their website, yet.
This doesn't make up for tearing down the homes on the corner, for me, anyway, but I really like that they are going to do the old fashioned streetlights. I think more parts of the city would benefit from the old fashioned street lights as a way to spur further streetscape and business improvements, even the modern, post-war areas of the city. In particular, I want to see them on Saginaw in between MLK and at least Pine. I'm also very happy to hear about the trees. I'm a huge proponent of beautification by way of street trees. This is already a fairly nice walk on Capitol, and this will make it even better and more neighborhood-like. And, moving the utilities to the alley is great. When you can't bury them, it's always best to move them out of sight when possible.
- A 10-foot-wide shared-use path will be constructed in DeWitt Township on the eastside of Old US 27 from the Lansing border at Sheridan Road to Northcrest Road, which is about a mile-and-a-half to the north. On the westside of the road will be a regular 5-foot-wide sidewalk. They eventually hope to connect this to the Lansing River Trail. It always blew my mind the few times I've been this far north that there weren't any kind of sidewalks along the road. I know it's a township, but it's always been weird. This area of the township is really trashy and needs some major cosmetic changes. Perhaps this is the first step in doing that.
- The Old Town Commcerial Association (OTCA) is getting its headquarters at 1232 Turner Street in the heart of Old Town expanded. They will add two additional floors to the one-story structure. The second floor will be a private office, and the third floor will be a 4,000 square foot private loft. The attached warehouse space will be converted to retail space and two parking bays. I guess this is mostly for the buildings owner, but space will be added for OTCA by renovating the existing ground floor structure.
I can't really make out exactly what they're doing from the description in the article, anyone been by there recently?
Found a picture of the building as-is: