Yeah, the Michigan Ave project leaves a lot to be desired. It's my understanding that all the bids came back over budget so they made some designs changes, including the poor decision to put the 'bike lane' on the sidewalk. It's better than it was but nevertheless very disappointing. The only positive I can find besides the general newness are the curb extensions at corners/pedestrian crossings, although that's a pretty low bar for success.
I agree of course, it is better just not great. I wonder if when finished the new street will help getting all the vacant spaces and buildings fixed up and rented, between "M" Sparrow and Collins there so many poorly maintained houses and buildings.
@MichMatters I've been thinking the idea of turning Washington Sq back into a mall since you've brought it up a couple times and I think I've come around to the idea, but it can't just be a basic mall. They have to make it special. And probably do it slowly, maybe starting with two blocks (or even one) and building out from there as it seems necessary. What got me thinking about it was the lack of an urban plaza in the heart of downtown, no truly central place to put an ice rink or Christmas market in the winter, or to host farmers markets in the warmer months and events like you'd see in Detroit's Campus Martius/Monroe St Midway. Washington Square, being unusually wide for a downtown street, could actually work well as a sort of highly landscaped plaza packed with multiple permanent and seasonal amenities. I think overloading on the amenities and ensuring that the whole place is well designed and landscaped is necessary to keep it, and the businesses along there, busy.
To be clear, I wasn't advocating for turning it back into a full pedestrian mall; I don't particularly like that idea. I was specifically talking about the idea of doing what they are doing to Monroe in Greektown in Detroit - and what is similar to what they have down on Bourbon Street in New Orleans - in which you allow (limited) traffic/parking/business delivery throughout the daytime hours, but you have the option of closing off the street after-hours and holidays or other events times.
DOT announced it's grant winners for the "Reconnecting Communities" program, today. Lansing was one of the winners of a "Community Planning Grant" for its "Our Way for the Highway: Capping Lansing’s I-496 to Reconnect Communitie" planning proposal. It awarded $1,040,000 toward this planning. The city estimates planning will cost $1.3 million, so they basically got all they needed. Anyway, this will investigate capping and/or adding additiona vehicular or pedestrian connections over 496. We've kind of been talking about this for years, but this was the first big win in hopefully formally starting this discussion. There is going to be less federal dollars available for whatever we want to do over the next 4 years, but at least we don't have to pay for the planning aspect of this from the city's coffers.
Wow! As someone who used to live just south of 496 and still a westside resident (further north), that would be a huge win in my mind. I know its just planning, but that seems promising. Just trying to go for a decent walk from that section of neighborhood was such a task and unpleasant.
Going back to Washington and it's potential. I saw this on LinkedIn and it made me thing of possibilities for Washington. I knows it's still vehicle heavy but it seems like a nice way to soften it up. It's such a wide ROW. It used to be five lanes across like the "before" photo so it seems like the space is there. I forget what city this was but I've been in cities with similar conversions and the added vegetation and breaking up of the street is a lot more pleasant as a pedestrian. Just curious what people's thoughts are.
When we're talking caps, just realize that we're most likely talking a few blocks at the eastern end of downtown (Grand, Washington, Capitol); it'd definitely won't be a full tunnel, which requires a complicated ventilation, drainage, emergenecy...systems. There was a mock-up by Dymaxion somewhere on the forum here some years back showing a concept of this.
BTW, the city you have pictured is somewhere in California. They have so many, I can't keep track of them. lol BTW, you sure Washington would be five lanes? It feels like four to me, especially with the sidewalks probably a bit wider than they used to be.
That's fair. It's too bad though. That section could really use at least additional pedestrian crossings with some sort of traffic control to cross St Joe/Malcolm X. A covered section with park space there would be amazing though. Even if it was just a block or something. I've visited Boston plenty, as I had relatives out there, and I know something like the "big dig" isn't something that's happening in Lansing lol. I get the smaller scale but hope they can do more than just downtown areas. Honestly, I don't think I ever took talk of this seriously just because I couldn't see there ever being a budget for it. I guess the funding for a concept has me optimistic to some extent.
It is California...I could probably reverse image search to find what city. When I say 5 lanes, I mean "back in the day", so the lanes were probably narrower. The old photos I've seen show 5 lanes I'm pretty sure and still parking I feel like. Some images look like 4, others look like center turn lanes. The sidewalks were probably narrower but maybe that's okay with more pedestrian space in the "boulevard". Maybe reduced sidewalks might help it feel less desolate? I've attached some photos of what I'm referencing. I always though it's crazy to think there's that much space there. Definitely could be something better than it currently is though...
Yeah, I was talking about back-in-the-day, too. What's throwing me off is it only being two lanes with pull-in parking, and that being 6-ish previous lanes.
It's weird, because I think the general sense if that it's noticeably wide, but something about the curb bump-outs at the corners with the trees, and the way the cars pull in, I never really got that sense of it feeling particularly or especially wide. It always felt like a reasonable compromise to me between the original highway-like set-up and the pedestrian mall.
In any case, since we're talking about this, the part in between Allegan and Kalamazoo will be torn up for CSO work this year. In 2029, they'll be tearing up between the block halfway south of Kalamazoo to St. Joseph. It'd have been nice to have planned for a streetscape rework of the area to coincide with that.
Wow these pics take me back. I Remember these views very well. Note there is no greenery anywhere! another East Coast refinance for a pedestrian and vehicle use street is in Provincetown where the main street Commercial Street is a narrow one-way street with sidewalks on one side. The street scape is kind of European is the way the buildings are packed together very closely on both sides of the street. the street is also packed with tourist now during much of the year. There is even some parking and up until the '60s was a two-way street! They way they finally came up with a way to handle the needs of the businesses for vehicle traffic and the reality of way many too many people for the sidewalks to handle was to allow large truck deliveries until 11am. then with the trucks off the street regular traffic could easily slowly pass through the town center. After 6pm in the summer they close the street to through traffic allowing the tourist to take over several blocks of the street. It took a long time for this arrangement to come about as old town folks wanted the street open at all times, so the cops would spend each night trying to get thousands of people to stay on the sidewalk. So dumb! I guess my point here is that such a small street can accommodate all this activity the wide street of Washington Avenue has a lot of space that really could be there for pedestrians, vehicles, green space and sidewalk cafes. I do not remember this, but the center lane was a trolly track route which is perhaps why it is so wide. In the '40s through the "60s on the north and south sides of downtown there were rows of parking spaces in the middle of the street in each direction they called the gut! again, the point being there is so much space that could be beautified and made more useful for residents and tourists. I also think the idea of reconnecting the 496 neighborhoods is a great idea. The dig part is already done we would just have to top off the blocks.
Comments
Going back to Washington and it's potential. I saw this on LinkedIn and it made me thing of possibilities for Washington. I knows it's still vehicle heavy but it seems like a nice way to soften it up. It's such a wide ROW. It used to be five lanes across like the "before" photo so it seems like the space is there. I forget what city this was but I've been in cities with similar conversions and the added vegetation and breaking up of the street is a lot more pleasant as a pedestrian. Just curious what people's thoughts are.
BTW, the city you have pictured is somewhere in California. They have so many, I can't keep track of them. lol BTW, you sure Washington would be five lanes? It feels like four to me, especially with the sidewalks probably a bit wider than they used to be.
It is California...I could probably reverse image search to find what city. When I say 5 lanes, I mean "back in the day", so the lanes were probably narrower. The old photos I've seen show 5 lanes I'm pretty sure and still parking I feel like. Some images look like 4, others look like center turn lanes. The sidewalks were probably narrower but maybe that's okay with more pedestrian space in the "boulevard". Maybe reduced sidewalks might help it feel less desolate? I've attached some photos of what I'm referencing. I always though it's crazy to think there's that much space there. Definitely could be something better than it currently is though...
It's weird, because I think the general sense if that it's noticeably wide, but something about the curb bump-outs at the corners with the trees, and the way the cars pull in, I never really got that sense of it feeling particularly or especially wide. It always felt like a reasonable compromise to me between the original highway-like set-up and the pedestrian mall.
In any case, since we're talking about this, the part in between Allegan and Kalamazoo will be torn up for CSO work this year. In 2029, they'll be tearing up between the block halfway south of Kalamazoo to St. Joseph. It'd have been nice to have planned for a streetscape rework of the area to coincide with that.