It will not surprise me if the mayor thinks it is a good idea to cap a portion of 496 that that would be a square of grass and some trees with a plaque with a picture of what used to be there. As a person whose family was very much affected by the construction of both 496 and creating a boulevard along M-99 a lame project of capping a half of a block in the middle of the industrial complex would be just another F-U to the people and place that was the West Side neighborhoods.
As pictured above many folks in Boston were not in favor of spending so much money for The Big Dig, which was an amazingly complicated project. For instance, they froze solid the ground under the many rail tracks leading to South Station then tunneled under the tracks. All of that work was mainly for improving the traffic flow through Boston leading to the new Zakim Bridge to the north, the Green Way was for people. Even creating a full tunnel here would cost far less than most any one feature of the Big Dig, as you can see the Rose Kenedy Greenway was to me was the best part of the project, it created a lot of investment and reclaiming the old surface route really did reconnect the North End to downtown and people really use and love the beautiful space. Let's do that! Just looking at the before picture gives me the Willys thinking of driving through Boston was always scary back then.
Oh boy. I knew there had to be catch. For every step forward this city takes at least a half step back. Thankfully there will be plenty of time to change minds before any serious funding will be allocated. A cap over that stretch of 496 would be invaluable when the Grand River Plant goes away, but that appears to be decades away.
I noticed a new welcome to Lansing sign on Dunkel at Collins. It is nice looking different from a Highway type sign, with several different panels three of which say "Health and Innovation Corridor" a rather unusual title imo I had to look at it twice to figure what it said.
When I read 2 or 3 years from now for most every project that is planned for Lansing it makes me crazy. How about paving E Michigan Ave in front of Frandor tomorrow, that would be a good place to start.
I am still amazed that E Michigan in front of Frandor has not be repaved, does anyone know why it has been delayed for so long or when we could look forward to the end of the moon scaped pavement. I know I should call and find out but maybe someone here knows.
That sounds great on the surface, count me as also very interested in where this money goes. I'd generally assume major and minor arterials are "major streets" (Cedar/MLK/Waverly/Jolly/Saginaw being major arterials and Miller/Holmes/Washington being minor arterials). Obviously neighborhood side streets are "local", but there's another category that I forget the name of, "neighborhood feeder" or something like that, that includes streets like Baker and Northrup; I don't know what category those would go into.
Here is my list of some local streets to repave, Baker Street, Moorse River Drive, High Street, Cesar Chavez, Hosmer Street, Hazel Street, Malcom X, West Kalamazoo, West Michigan, West Barnes Avenue, Olds Avenue, McPherson Avenue, Boston Blvd. and I'm sure you folks could add more than a few more streets to this list. Is 2025 the year when it all could happen?
Comments
As pictured above many folks in Boston were not in favor of spending so much money for The Big Dig, which was an amazingly complicated project. For instance, they froze solid the ground under the many rail tracks leading to South Station then tunneled under the tracks. All of that work was mainly for improving the traffic flow through Boston leading to the new Zakim Bridge to the north, the Green Way was for people. Even creating a full tunnel here would cost far less than most any one feature of the Big Dig, as you can see the Rose Kenedy Greenway was to me was the best part of the project, it created a lot of investment and reclaiming the old surface route really did reconnect the North End to downtown and people really use and love the beautiful space. Let's do that! Just looking at the before picture gives me the Willys thinking of driving through Boston was always scary back then.