I rode on Gillespie's river boat yesterday from the Jazz Fest to the Lansing Center. The price was only $1 each way per person. I was surprised that it was such a good deal. The boat was packed and at some times there were too many people in line to fit on the boat.
For only a dollar it would be hard to pass up another ride. It offered a different way to travel up and down the river and another story to tell.
That's strange. Every time I see the boat, it turns around in Riverfront Park. I'd always assumed it was because it could't make it under the Saginaw Street bridge.
Speaking of which, I've always seen the clearance over the river of that bridge as a serious impediment to connecting Old Town and downtown along the riverfront. It hampers little more than canoes/kayaks and small motorboats from traversing the clearance, and as anyone that regularly travels the River Trail knows, because the bridge is so low the River Trail under it is unpassale even when the river rises just a little bit. As a regular user of the trail it's always been my opinion that it should take a lot of river rise (more than normal) to waterlog any major stretch of the trail, at least the downtown leg of it.
It's always been just a dream, but I always wanted to see them redo the bridge to raise it further above the river, at least as high as the neighboring Oakland Street bridge. I know it'd require reconfiguring Riverfront Mall, and possibly the intersection of Saginaw and Center, but it be well worth it.
I can almost guarantee that the Saginaw St bridge is going to be rebuilt before too long. It's a very old, very busy bridge, making it a good candidate for reconstruction. I'm almost sure that when they do rebuild it it will be higher up, or at least use lower-profile girders.
Actually, MDOT did extensive work on the bridge a few years back, and if I remember right they labeled the work a "reconstruction". I do remember that what they did was much more than a renovation of the roadbed.
MDOT has been complaining for quite a few years that how the state chooses to fund their department is unsustainable. It's probably why these patch jobs are more popular with them now than full reconstructions. There are currently matching federal funds out there, but because of the unwillingness by one party in the state legislature, it looks like we won't be getting them before they expire.
BTW I was back down at the riverfront promenade by the City Market again today. I REALLY wished they'd have add SOME vegetation like what has been done on the other side of the river at Accident Fund. Apart from it just looking barren, the thing is a total heat island on hot days, and the way the wind is going to sweep through there in the winter scares me. I appreciate them wanting to "open up" the riverfront to the river, but that didn't mean they had to wholesale rid the rivefront of any and all signs of flora. lol Even a few small decorative trees placed six feet apart would have broken up the space a bit while still preserving nice views of the river.
No, I'm talking about the actual riverfront; the concrete promenade and plaza that juts out into the river. There needs to be a few small trees or shrubs to break up the vast expanse of solid concrete, IMO, like what they done over the river at Accident Funds walkway.
I don't care as much about the higher ground on the other side of the trail because it's all going to be redone when they build Market Place, anyway. Most of that's been a parking lot for decades. I'm talking specifically about the areas of vegetation they tore up along the banks without even attempting to replace.
I'm sure you guys saw it in the LSJ, today, but there was an update on Market Place. Gillespie is contractually obligated to start the project by next spring.
Anyway, the first building is said to be 85,000 sq ft, 6 floors with the ground floor parking (I think originally they were going to put it underground). It'll have 84 apartments in one, two, and three bedrooms with the one bedroom starting at $750 per month and the three bedroom for $1,400.
Gillespie is seeking $4 million in incentives for the $23 million project.
The article also went into some detail on the plans for the public ice rink, and something new: a reconstruction of the Lansing Center-Radisson pedestrian bridge. They want to want to use TIFA money to clad it in all glass.
I'm glad to hear that he is working on getting Marketplace moving. I'm really glad to hear that they're looking at recladding the pedestrian bridge, that thing is really ugly.
Comments
For only a dollar it would be hard to pass up another ride. It offered a different way to travel up and down the river and another story to tell.
Speaking of which, I've always seen the clearance over the river of that bridge as a serious impediment to connecting Old Town and downtown along the riverfront. It hampers little more than canoes/kayaks and small motorboats from traversing the clearance, and as anyone that regularly travels the River Trail knows, because the bridge is so low the River Trail under it is unpassale even when the river rises just a little bit. As a regular user of the trail it's always been my opinion that it should take a lot of river rise (more than normal) to waterlog any major stretch of the trail, at least the downtown leg of it.
It's always been just a dream, but I always wanted to see them redo the bridge to raise it further above the river, at least as high as the neighboring Oakland Street bridge. I know it'd require reconfiguring Riverfront Mall, and possibly the intersection of Saginaw and Center, but it be well worth it.
MDOT has been complaining for quite a few years that how the state chooses to fund their department is unsustainable. It's probably why these patch jobs are more popular with them now than full reconstructions. There are currently matching federal funds out there, but because of the unwillingness by one party in the state legislature, it looks like we won't be getting them before they expire.
BTW I was back down at the riverfront promenade by the City Market again today. I REALLY wished they'd have add SOME vegetation like what has been done on the other side of the river at Accident Fund. Apart from it just looking barren, the thing is a total heat island on hot days, and the way the wind is going to sweep through there in the winter scares me. I appreciate them wanting to "open up" the riverfront to the river, but that didn't mean they had to wholesale rid the rivefront of any and all signs of flora. lol Even a few small decorative trees placed six feet apart would have broken up the space a bit while still preserving nice views of the river.
I don't care as much about the higher ground on the other side of the trail because it's all going to be redone when they build Market Place, anyway. Most of that's been a parking lot for decades. I'm talking specifically about the areas of vegetation they tore up along the banks without even attempting to replace.
Anyway, the first building is said to be 85,000 sq ft, 6 floors with the ground floor parking (I think originally they were going to put it underground). It'll have 84 apartments in one, two, and three bedrooms with the one bedroom starting at $750 per month and the three bedroom for $1,400.
Gillespie is seeking $4 million in incentives for the $23 million project.
The article also went into some detail on the plans for the public ice rink, and something new: a reconstruction of the Lansing Center-Radisson pedestrian bridge. They want to want to use TIFA money to clad it in all glass.