The first step should be to put a stop sign on N Homer St that requires local traffic to stop and yield to traffic exiting the freeway. This setup is all over metro Detroit.
That is kind of what I was trying to convey, a separate lane for local traffic on the right, and two north bound lanes for thru-traffic which could have a stop sign for off ramp traffic. That traffic would not cross into the local lane but turn right onto Saginaw from a lane next to the local lane. I have often thought how a huge traffic circle could be built but that would be very complected and expensive!
Heard from a little birdy that there is a proposal to reconfigure MLK between the freeway and Ionia Street. Not sure about too many of the details or how far along this is, but they are talking about getting rid of the boulevard. I'm not exactly sure how I feel this. I think the boulevard south of the river is overdone, particularly since the old drop forge and no longer exists and GM has a much smalle workforce in the immediate area than it used to. But the part north of the freeway seemed to make more sense to me since it feeds into the Capitol Loop. So it seems kind of backwards to me. Also, kind of curious if there are plans for the excess right-of-way this would create.
I have not heard of it and I'm not a huge fan of getting rid of the boulevard at first thought, I'd rather see it extended north to Saginaw/Oakland. They could potentially sell me on the idea of narrowing the street if it opens up some land for development and there's some assurances that it will be developed in way fitting to mark the western edge of downtown. I won't have any strong opinion on it until I see some kind of plan.
Hey, on the east side trail which will run from Shiawassee to May along the CSX railroad tracks, I was curious if anyone knew if they had an agreement with CSX or if there is city-owned right-of-way, here? I know the ROW for unimproved East Street used to run here, but I was curious if the city still owned this land or has an easement across it? Always been kind of interested how this worked. And the city and county parcel viewers don't show any separately-owned parcels, here.
I forgot about that being a thing. I don't know the answer to your question but now I'm curious about the specific routing, how they'll separate the trail from the tracks and if it will be over the rail bridge at Saginaw. Keep us updated if you find anything out
EDIT - Just went back to see the language of the grant acceptance, it looks like it will be in the East St ROW:
WHEREAS; the East Street Pathway project would construct a pathway within the East
Street public right of way adjacent the CSX railway between May Street and Shiawassee
Street and a connection to the Saginaw Street bike lanes at the intersection of Saginaw
Street and Center Street
Yeah, I'd love to see the size (length, width) of this ROW; I don't think I've ever seen a map showing it and how it relates to whatever the CSX property line is. That is, unless the CSX runs within part of the East Street ROW. Just kind of curious how much unsued or partially used ROW we have for East Street.
Looking at the parcel map the easiest place to see the ROW's width is where it goes by Prudden Place, it seems the ROW extends from the edge of the carports to the existing RR tracks, maybe 40' wide. It looks like it gets narrower at Oakland where it may end and be just the RR ROW. (I'm depending on Zillow's parcel map because the one the city links to isn't working for me.)
...On the subject of trails while I'm thinking about it: The Holt to Mason connector is now under construction as part of Ingham County's Cedar St reconstruction. The entire pathway all the way to the Hayhoe Trail is fully funded, the part under construction this year will extend from the Valhalla Trail's southern end to College Rd along the east side of Cedar St. The remaining section of the trail is partially funded by a Federal grant with the County paying for the rest, it will go from College Rd, across 127 via a new pedestrian bridge next to Howell Rd and connect to the Hayhoe trail at Kerns & Howell roads. No word on timeline there but I'd guess next year is likely.
This will add 3.7 miles of new trail while connecting to the existing 3.3 mile Hayhoe trail and 1 mile Esker trail, which just needs about one block of path along Holt Rd to connect to the Valhalla Trail which connects to the main trail system. Besides that 1/4 mile gap you will now be able to start as far away as Turner Dodge, Moores Park, Waverly near Jolly, or Lake Lansing Park and go all the way to Mason (or anywhere between) almost entirely away from roads and rarely crossing one at grade. The Rivertrail network should break 50 miles of contiguous paved trails next year or 2025, not including the many disconnected pathways some of which are multiple miles long themselves.
There is an artical about the reconfiguration of East Michigan Ave in the weeks City Pulse. I would like to see a better depiction of the plan; it was hard to get excited about the project with the basic drawing they published. Wider sidewalks and more trees, sounds good.
Comments
Anyway, anyone else heard of this? Thoughts?
EDIT - Just went back to see the language of the grant acceptance, it looks like it will be in the East St ROW:
...On the subject of trails while I'm thinking about it: The Holt to Mason connector is now under construction as part of Ingham County's Cedar St reconstruction. The entire pathway all the way to the Hayhoe Trail is fully funded, the part under construction this year will extend from the Valhalla Trail's southern end to College Rd along the east side of Cedar St. The remaining section of the trail is partially funded by a Federal grant with the County paying for the rest, it will go from College Rd, across 127 via a new pedestrian bridge next to Howell Rd and connect to the Hayhoe trail at Kerns & Howell roads. No word on timeline there but I'd guess next year is likely.
This will add 3.7 miles of new trail while connecting to the existing 3.3 mile Hayhoe trail and 1 mile Esker trail, which just needs about one block of path along Holt Rd to connect to the Valhalla Trail which connects to the main trail system. Besides that 1/4 mile gap you will now be able to start as far away as Turner Dodge, Moores Park, Waverly near Jolly, or Lake Lansing Park and go all the way to Mason (or anywhere between) almost entirely away from roads and rarely crossing one at grade. The Rivertrail network should break 50 miles of contiguous paved trails next year or 2025, not including the many disconnected pathways some of which are multiple miles long themselves.