The problem is entirely political. I cannot stress how important simply being willing to discuss concerns openly and honestly is. Just speaking up is enough to change the atmosphere, and eventually effect meaningful change.
The repaving of E. Michigan from 127 east has begun! The timing of how long this has taken to happen is a mystery, oh well, who cares now! They were digging up the "Michigan Left" across from Stapels, so there is some configuration changes planned.
It's going to be different out that way, the repaved road is sort of the cherry on top. I personally am excited to see what's in store for the 2027/'28 127 rebuild through Frandor. I'm hoping for two lanes from 496 east to 127 north, along with better solutions to turn east on Kalamazoo and Saginaw when exiting northbound. A shared use path/wide sidewalk along the freeway side of Homer and Howard would truly be welcomed. Fingers crossed.
I can't wait for this repaving to finally be done, as well as the work on 127 by Frandor. Given the new state budget has been passed it will also be interesting to see what additional projects will crop up on state owned roads as well as the local roads around here. As someone that lives near Saginaw/Grand River by Frandor the partial paving they did a few weeks back only knocked out the worst sections, but there are plenty others that are just as bad. I did see that they will be repaving Saginaw east from roughly the downtown area to Penn on the city construction map so that will be nice as well.
I've said it before but I'd love for them to repave the one way areas and either road diet them or revert to two ways as the current setup makes people go consistently 20-30 over the speed limit at times and it's like playing frogger trying to legally cross the roadways.
Yeah, it really can't be stated enough how great getting Oakland and Saginaw to smaller two-way streets would be for the surrounding neighborhoods. Hopefully if enough people get to talking about it we can at least get some studies as to what options might be acceptable for the State.
Just walking through this evening (pretty photo). But yeah... nobody, walking on the sidewalk, is going to think "this side of the sidewalk is for people, and this side is for bicycles". Not unless there is an absolute ton of bike traffic. Is kind of a weird thing.
Yeah this was bad. Even with a clearly devoted line/paint, it's still bad to have the bike lane on the sidewalk because no drivers are going to be watching for bikers there. They'll be at risk of every right hand turn driver and the cars entering Michigan Ave from a cross street.
I took my first drive down Michigan Avenue and it was really nice and smooth; I was impressed by the number and variety of trees planted. The Lansing style streetlamps look good too. However, there is a lot of cement to look at, and I also cannot understand the "bike path" on the sidewalk. I think it may be safer than riding in the street, and may not see a lot of bike traffic, but it will require riders to be extra careful taking in all directions and slowing for the driveways. Living in EL we have bikes on the pedestrian sidewalks everywhere and it is startling to have a biker whisk by inches away especially the electric bike and scooters that are much faster and heavier than people powered bikes. It could be very bad colliding with one of those. Are those green strips "bike crossings" which auto traffic must stop for bike traffic? The other negative observation would be that all the vacant buildings and graffiti are now very visible. I would like to see the city get property owners to be more aggressive leasing and building on empty lots, secure and take care of vacant land and buildings, painting over graffiti and covering windows along Michigan Ave, now that millions have been spent on the street.
@gbdinlansing I do think, maybe MSU, needs to do some education for new students on proper bicycling (and now, electric scooter) etiquette. I mean just basic stuff, I think many students have never ridden a bike so often before.
1. If there is a bike lane, use the bike lane instead of the sidewalk.
2. Ride in the bike lane in the direction of traffic.
3. Use a headlight and taillight at night.
4. If you're on the sidewalk and pedestrians are about, ride slowly and give them priority.
I agree that the students could use some basic biking rules of the road education, they could use a lot of education how to behave in many areas! I would add alerting pedestrians when approaching from behind. Maybe a speed limit on bike paths for electric bikes and scooters and requiring some sort of bell of horn.
Comments
I've said it before but I'd love for them to repave the one way areas and either road diet them or revert to two ways as the current setup makes people go consistently 20-30 over the speed limit at times and it's like playing frogger trying to legally cross the roadways.
1. If there is a bike lane, use the bike lane instead of the sidewalk.
2. Ride in the bike lane in the direction of traffic.
3. Use a headlight and taillight at night.
4. If you're on the sidewalk and pedestrians are about, ride slowly and give them priority.
Just that would cover a lot.