That train track bridge over the road really wreaks havoc on traffic flow. I drive this way every day for work and routinely see close calls from people using the lane furthest to the left to skirt past a couple cars and merge right before the lane ends past Pennsylvania. There are similar issues with people merging into the new lane past the support pillar. The new empty lane incentivizes people to merge from the lane to its right and its left to try and speed past traffic ahead of them.
I've been trying to think of a way to make it better but I'm at a loss. It's an active track, so you can't just remove the bridge. I also doubt you could make a new bridge without a support pillar because I guarantee those are heavy trains using that track due to it running through NW Lansing.
I guess one way you could do it would be to make the leftmost lane end at Larch, fill the lane in with grass, then make the left turn lane bump back out closer to Pennsylvania. You could also make a grassy median right after the bridge heading east to allow for traffic to sift a bit more before people start merging in the lane again. I don't know though, it's all kind of chaotic in this section of Saginaw, since you have Cedar, Larch, Pennsylvania all crossing north-south within a mile of each other.
All a pipe dream I'm sure, but I really would like Lansing to start being more proactive about traffic flow and road layout. The removal of some one-ways downtown is a good project, but I think improvements for the major trunklines should be of significant importance too. I am also glad that Lansing Township has been making small changes to traffic flow around Frandor too. It's still very deadly but ever slightly less so with changes to south Homer street near the entrance to 127.
Update on the Coleman Road extension from the City of East Lansing:
EAST LANSING, Mich. —The Clinton County Road Commission, in partnership with the City of East Lansing, will hold a public information meeting for the upcoming Coleman Road Extension Project.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at the East Lansing Department of Public Works, 1800 E. State Road.
The meeting will provide an overview of the project, including the extension of Coleman Road from West Road to Wood Road, infrastructure improvements and installation of sidewalk and bike lanes. East Lansing residents can expect the project to be constructed this year, with tree removal taking place prior to March 31 and the majority of construction taking place June-September.
The funding for this project is provided by a state appropriation from the State of Michigan.
@Darklink I don't think the problem is as much with the road so much as the people driving on it, though I'm sure being a 4-5 lane one way street doesn't do much to help.
@MichMatters I'm glad to see that Coleman Rd extension get started, it's much needed. It is sort of bittersweet though as it will probably spur even more development in Eastwood and the Coolidge/West Rd corridors, I'm sure State Rd will get a freeway exit before too long.
Way early, but while looking through the FAA's obstruction evaluations for something else, I came across a case filed for the replacement of the Aurelius Bridger over the CN railroad tracks and Grand River. The project will not be started until next year, but the city already let the FAA now know they'll be using a 195-foot crane for the bridge replacement. They filed less than a month ago and the FAA approved it literally on Monday. I believe the part over the freeway (and CSX railroad tracks) was rebuilt when they rebuilt the freeway in 2001, and it's still in pretty good shape.
Looks like the Bear Lake Path and Eastside Connector non-motorized paths will also begin construction this year.
And the one I'm dying for is the milling and resurfacing of Capitol Avenue which starts this summer. The part south of Allegan is an absolute disgrace.
Interesting, I wonder if there are there any plans to make Clemens/Aurelius more conducive to biking. I'm also wondering if they are planning to do any additional improvements given this will be used alongside Pennsylvania as the hospital route from Lansing for the new McLaren facility. Maybe I should email them and see.
Speaking of near the Capitol, I can't wait for them to redo that small patch of Walnut north of Shiawassee but south of Saginaw. That is starting to get pretty goddam brutal driving through on a daily basis.
There were funds last year to add sidewalks on Aurelius, for a section from Cavanaugh to Forest. This was not done and I do not see it scheduled for this year either. @Darklink if you find out anything to add some protected bike lanes on Aurelius from Mt hope to Kalamazoo let me know.
As for along Collins I inquired about the complete streets ordinance for the new hospital. I received an email with a general the city will study it but there is no money. I was kinda surprised that the hospital is not paying for some protected lanes along this stretch. They removed 3/4 of a mile of roads for the new hospital. I did ask the mayor and the council rep that the hospital should put in some side paths/protected lanes along Collins and forest. They did not respond with any improvements listed.
This all seems haphazard in the way the city plans road repairs/repaving. Pine St. has about six different surface conditions from newly paved to very poor potholes across whole lanes. This seems crazy to me. The same thing on Mt. Hope, now with poorly marked lane shifts on both ends of the new pavement. Between Boston Blvd. and Pattengill it is difficult to see the lane markings which is supposed to be three lanes lining up with the new pavement, it still looks like a four-lane street and it is dangerous to sit in the "left turn lane" when people are using the lane as a thru lane and it looks like you are sitting in the middle of the road waiting to turn. I know it's all about the money. I am happy to see the improvements being planned I wish they were more extensive. I saw recently that Jackson[County?] bought its own road grinder/repaving machine, does Lansing have one?
I sent an email this morning to Lansing City regarding my questions for the Aurelius repave and will report back if I hear anything.
Old 27 just north of Lansing feels pretty dangerous now too ever since they repaved that. Maybe it will get better with time but the pavement is so dark and the new paint isn't nearly as reflective enough as it should be so you can hardly see at night. It was raining and dark the other week and it was hard to see where you needed to be in the road itself. Otherwise the repave there is great and as smooth as it can be (for now).
Retail space at the Frandor Shopping Center is 98% occupied, according to Danielle Speirs, a leasing agent with Corr Commercial Real Estate. The center has 61 tenants.
That's no small feat in an era where online shopping has cut into main street business, said Rex LaMore, director of the Center of Community and Economic Development at Michigan State University.
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Ingham County's most dangerous intersection, as determined by the number of crashes, is sandwiched between U.S. 127 and Frandor.
There were 69 collisions, none of them fatal, at East Saginaw and North Homer Street in 2017, according to Michigan State Police data. Homer Street offloads northbound drivers from the highway toward Frandor.
Several of the county's other collision hot spots were clustered in the same vicinity. East Saginaw and North Clippert streets had 50 crashes and North Howard Avenue and East Grand River Avenue had 49 crashes.
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MDOT officials say they plan to improve driver sight lines at Homer Street between Michigan and Saginaw in 2020, as part of a safety project.
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The state agency also is working to upgrade traffic lights where Homer and Howard streets intersect with Saginaw and Grand River.
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Lighted arrows will provide a clearer indication of left-turn and right-turn only lanes and discourage wrong-way drivers from turning head-on into traffic, MDOT spokesman Aaron Jenkins said. A similar light will be installed at Saginaw and Clippert.
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Lansing resident Alison Alfredson avoids driving past Frandor whenever possible.
She notes, however, that the busy streets can be even more overwhelming for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The area's layout is a conundrum, in part, because high-traffic volumes might make it inadvisable to reduce driving lanes, Kilpatrick said.
Nonetheless, the city of Lansing is considering some improvements to the Frandor region, including adding sidewalks to fill in gaps along the northside of Grand River Avenue between Clippert and Coolidge, Kilpatrick said.
Another positive development will be an "east side connector" walking and bike route, set for completion in fall 2019 or spring 2020. The route, which will extend more than three miles from the east side of Frandor to Lansing's downtown, will connect a paved bike path to bike lanes and sidewalks.
Honestly, there is a whole lot in this story. Basically, the big issue here is that the area is under multiple jurisdictions: Lansing, Lansing Township, East Lansing and MDOT. But it sounds like they are slowly getting it together.
LSJ did a good job with this article in my opinion.
This area is going to need some complex fixes to make those streets manageable, and I think this should be a big focus for all jurisdictions involved. Bridging Lansing and East Lansing via the Frandor area will do great things for the area. Making it more bikeable, walkable, and generally safe to navigate will boost an already booming area. I chose to live near Frandor because it is convenient, but I would never walk there from Lansing in its current state. I used to live off of Glenmoor RD in East Lansing and would walk through Ranney Park all the time, but it is much more chaotic heading from the Lansing side. If they improved the navigation it would be great.
Comments
Has the city ever considered making adjustments to the section of eastbound Saginaw ave between Larch and Pennsylvania?
https://goo.gl/maps/jy5PfMdKde52
That train track bridge over the road really wreaks havoc on traffic flow. I drive this way every day for work and routinely see close calls from people using the lane furthest to the left to skirt past a couple cars and merge right before the lane ends past Pennsylvania. There are similar issues with people merging into the new lane past the support pillar. The new empty lane incentivizes people to merge from the lane to its right and its left to try and speed past traffic ahead of them.
I've been trying to think of a way to make it better but I'm at a loss. It's an active track, so you can't just remove the bridge. I also doubt you could make a new bridge without a support pillar because I guarantee those are heavy trains using that track due to it running through NW Lansing.
I guess one way you could do it would be to make the leftmost lane end at Larch, fill the lane in with grass, then make the left turn lane bump back out closer to Pennsylvania. You could also make a grassy median right after the bridge heading east to allow for traffic to sift a bit more before people start merging in the lane again. I don't know though, it's all kind of chaotic in this section of Saginaw, since you have Cedar, Larch, Pennsylvania all crossing north-south within a mile of each other.
All a pipe dream I'm sure, but I really would like Lansing to start being more proactive about traffic flow and road layout. The removal of some one-ways downtown is a good project, but I think improvements for the major trunklines should be of significant importance too. I am also glad that Lansing Township has been making small changes to traffic flow around Frandor too. It's still very deadly but ever slightly less so with changes to south Homer street near the entrance to 127.
Update on the Coleman Road extension from the City of East Lansing:
@Darklink I don't think the problem is as much with the road so much as the people driving on it, though I'm sure being a 4-5 lane one way street doesn't do much to help.
@MichMatters I'm glad to see that Coleman Rd extension get started, it's much needed. It is sort of bittersweet though as it will probably spur even more development in Eastwood and the Coolidge/West Rd corridors, I'm sure State Rd will get a freeway exit before too long.
Way early, but while looking through the FAA's obstruction evaluations for something else, I came across a case filed for the replacement of the Aurelius Bridger over the CN railroad tracks and Grand River. The project will not be started until next year, but the city already let the FAA now know they'll be using a 195-foot crane for the bridge replacement. They filed less than a month ago and the FAA approved it literally on Monday. I believe the part over the freeway (and CSX railroad tracks) was rebuilt when they rebuilt the freeway in 2001, and it's still in pretty good shape.
Looks like the Bear Lake Path and Eastside Connector non-motorized paths will also begin construction this year.
And the one I'm dying for is the milling and resurfacing of Capitol Avenue which starts this summer. The part south of Allegan is an absolute disgrace.
https://lansing.maps.arcgis.com/apps/PublicInformation/index.html?appid=b8cda61d8cdc4f92a91079c5e0ae41c9
Interesting, I wonder if there are there any plans to make Clemens/Aurelius more conducive to biking. I'm also wondering if they are planning to do any additional improvements given this will be used alongside Pennsylvania as the hospital route from Lansing for the new McLaren facility. Maybe I should email them and see.
Speaking of near the Capitol, I can't wait for them to redo that small patch of Walnut north of Shiawassee but south of Saginaw. That is starting to get pretty goddam brutal driving through on a daily basis.
There were funds last year to add sidewalks on Aurelius, for a section from Cavanaugh to Forest. This was not done and I do not see it scheduled for this year either.
@Darklink if you find out anything to add some protected bike lanes on Aurelius from Mt hope to Kalamazoo let me know.
As for along Collins I inquired about the complete streets ordinance for the new hospital. I received an email with a general the city will study it but there is no money. I was kinda surprised that the hospital is not paying for some protected lanes along this stretch. They removed 3/4 of a mile of roads for the new hospital. I did ask the mayor and the council rep that the hospital should put in some side paths/protected lanes along Collins and forest. They did not respond with any improvements listed.
This all seems haphazard in the way the city plans road repairs/repaving. Pine St. has about six different surface conditions from newly paved to very poor potholes across whole lanes. This seems crazy to me. The same thing on Mt. Hope, now with poorly marked lane shifts on both ends of the new pavement. Between Boston Blvd. and Pattengill it is difficult to see the lane markings which is supposed to be three lanes lining up with the new pavement, it still looks like a four-lane street and it is dangerous to sit in the "left turn lane" when people are using the lane as a thru lane and it looks like you are sitting in the middle of the road waiting to turn. I know it's all about the money. I am happy to see the improvements being planned I wish they were more extensive. I saw recently that Jackson[County?] bought its own road grinder/repaving machine, does Lansing have one?
I sent an email this morning to Lansing City regarding my questions for the Aurelius repave and will report back if I hear anything.
Old 27 just north of Lansing feels pretty dangerous now too ever since they repaved that. Maybe it will get better with time but the pavement is so dark and the new paint isn't nearly as reflective enough as it should be so you can hardly see at night. It was raining and dark the other week and it was hard to see where you needed to be in the road itself. Otherwise the repave there is great and as smooth as it can be (for now).
A really great and detailed story in the LSJ this morning about Frandor. A few excerpts about the mall itself and some traffic plans for the area:
Love it or hate it, Frandor is here to stay. What would make it easier to walk, drive the area?
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Honestly, there is a whole lot in this story. Basically, the big issue here is that the area is under multiple jurisdictions: Lansing, Lansing Township, East Lansing and MDOT. But it sounds like they are slowly getting it together.
LSJ did a good job with this article in my opinion.
This area is going to need some complex fixes to make those streets manageable, and I think this should be a big focus for all jurisdictions involved. Bridging Lansing and East Lansing via the Frandor area will do great things for the area. Making it more bikeable, walkable, and generally safe to navigate will boost an already booming area. I chose to live near Frandor because it is convenient, but I would never walk there from Lansing in its current state. I used to live off of Glenmoor RD in East Lansing and would walk through Ranney Park all the time, but it is much more chaotic heading from the Lansing side. If they improved the navigation it would be great.