The city has installed new traffic signal lights in the opposing direction on Grand Avenue downtown. It will be interesting to see how this works out. I could see a green center median with "Michigan lefts" on Grand Avenue then it really would be a grand avenue.
I would prefer I496 was removed downtown and converted into a surface street network like Embarcadero Freeway and the inner loop in Rochester NY and what is planned for I375 in Detroit.
I think covering over the downtown below grade section of I-496 would be a great idea it's already below ground level. I am not sure they would remove the freeway all together as in the other cities, I think the freeways that they removed were redundant, I guess you could say I 496 does not carry the amount of traffic it was designed for, but it still serves downtown and GM with the Interstate connection. Reconnecting the north and south sides of the city would be very beneficial to the neighboring areas and for the air pollution and noise issues. I was looking at a house at S Jenison and Hillsdale and I could hear the traffic roaring from the highway. The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston has become a tourist attraction and is actually very nice. I have talked about this idea before, it seems like a wild idea but they did it in several other places so why not here?
I've often thought about covering 496. It certainly wouldn't be cheap, but given that the freeway is already sunken and could simply be covered either with buildings and/or a continuous dirt covered bridge-like structure, I don't think that it's too crazy of a thing to be seriously considering in the long term.
Has anyone heard anything or have any thoughts on if CATA will revive the BRT plan now that we have a public transit friendly administration looking to invest a ton of money into infrastructure?
I think that is a good idea to bring up again. Perhaps if the feds were paying for most of any transit project like a BRT or light-rail system the folks in Okemos would not oppose such a project. They are building that new town center out there, it would be great if non-auto transit was included in the new development.
I took a look at the Aurelius Road project and was a bit surprised to find it is more of a rebuilding project rather than just repaving. There were some very large cranes on the bridge so some heavy work is being done. That will be nice to drive that way when it is finished. I took the local exit to see if the Holmes School project had begun. To get there I had to drive over some of the worst pavement in Lansing [which is saying something!] and the street seems to be sinking right in front of the school. The project has started, they were replacing the doors and windows in the old building, with no new building started as of yet.
I am wrong in thinking that Frandor's parking lots are going to be renovated for better drainage? It seems to be a patchwork of repaving small areas being done right now, and they are using regular asphalt by the looks, nothing like permeable paving as of yet.
Comments
Good to see downtown 496 will be part of these plans.