Hopefully soon I will be able to buy a house here, and I think the west side is really nice and I have been looking there. It will be great if they tamed Saginaw/Oakland streets. The speed limit could be lower. When they build what ever it is that will bring in 1,000 jobs it could be a chance to revitalize the commercial strips a long both streets. Just past MLK to the east is a former neighborhood shopping district that reminds me of REO town with the old store fronts and big houses. There were a lot of businesses to the west as well I can remember going there often back in the 60's.
Another REOtown update, over at GM they put up a new billboard. It's mainly white and has a big man's face in it. I am again having a hard time understanding why this is what GM has come up with as a good use for these iconic and historic buildings. It does not look bad as a billboard goes but on the front of the building it's almost all white except for the Cadillac symbols, which makes the marble look yellow and dirtier. One might think "are they going to paint?" I wish they could find a more dignified use for these buildings.
So I found this proposal from the TCBA that would create a bicycle link between Downtown Lansing and Frandor. It wouls branch off the River Trail near Shiawassee and run north of Michigan on mostly residential streets until it reaches the west side of Frandor. I'm guessing that they chose to go that route and avoid Michigan Ave because of the BRT plans. I hope that they are able to link Frandor to the River Trail like that and then maybe have a short extension south to connect to the Trail again at Kalamazoo and Clippert to make a loop.
gb, what exactly are you talking about when you say "at GM"? Are you talking about the old Oldsmobile administration building?
As for the connection to Frandor, I don't see why no one has pushed the extension of the on-street seperated lane along Saginaw. This seems like a no-brainer. Maybe put in a physical barrier along the entire thing as an upgrade, and it could go off-street at certain points (under the CSX tracks, for instances) because of the steep grades...the link above is a bit convoluted. Though, truth be told, when I haven't felt safe on Michigan I've used Jerome for comfort. Speaking of wish, the area north of Michigan is one of those nice little areas that doesn't get enough attention.
Anyway, you've already got a route along Kalamazoo, but additional connections certainly wouldn't hurt.
It sounds like TCBA has been pushing for the Saginaw extension and I think something on Oakland also. Curb-protected bike lanes would be awesome. I've seen them in other cities and they look great. Makes me jealous. They are still relatively new so maybe they'll start being adopted around here soon. I'd like to see the south side, downtown, Eastwood, East Lansing/MSU, and Haslett/Okemos/Meridian Twp all connected eventually.
I am talking about the big black glass and white marble building that they use for a billboard, it's the only one like that at the Grand River plant. On Townsend Street. When I lived here 35 years ago it was the administration building I do not know what they called in the mean time.
That's the bike route I usually take home to Groesbeck from downtown. It's a nice ride. Hopefully it would be a boost for the neighborhood between the Shiawassee bridge and Eastern HS. I think this area is ready for some new energy now that LBC and The Outfield are there. A bike lane would help connect to downtown and LCC. And, MichMatters, I also use Jerome because Michigan Ave is unsafe.
Speaking more generally of Michigan Avenue, I've been trying to figure out for quite some time when they plan to reconstruct it east of Sparrow Hospital and haven't gotten a reply from the city. This would seem like it should be a priority for them given that it's main street they are trying to develop along. I suspect we might be hearing something with the new state money coming to transportation funds. If anyone else can find out from the city when they have this scheduled for reconstruction, that would be great, because the state of the road is terrible.
No big deal but it was you Mich that asked what building I was talking about and what do I mean by GM. It's the only building with a billboard and I just think it looks bad. I do also believe the company that owns it is called GM. I could be wrong.
Comments
As for the connection to Frandor, I don't see why no one has pushed the extension of the on-street seperated lane along Saginaw. This seems like a no-brainer. Maybe put in a physical barrier along the entire thing as an upgrade, and it could go off-street at certain points (under the CSX tracks, for instances) because of the steep grades...the link above is a bit convoluted. Though, truth be told, when I haven't felt safe on Michigan I've used Jerome for comfort. Speaking of wish, the area north of Michigan is one of those nice little areas that doesn't get enough attention.
Anyway, you've already got a route along Kalamazoo, but additional connections certainly wouldn't hurt.