I say what ever they do will be great because I have never seen a main street anywhere, except maybe Mexico[love Mexico not the roads], in worse shape. Every town and city from here to the bridge has better main streets, it is kind of a shame right now. Maybe that is why Virg is so touchy about it. Does this guy seem to be returning to adolescents, or has he always been that way? He's not a bad guy but he's not too good at communicating things or bringing people over to his way of thinking. Diplomacy and transparency are simple things that can improve his image and maybe help Lansing do better landing projects,and getting funds from across the street in the Capitol.
I took the walk towards Potter park on the river trail Sunday. I was interested to see the progress on the "old Knapp's warehouse", down by the Red Cedar. They gutted and cleaned the whole area, and are starting to put in some nice looking windows and the beginning of the inside walls. It looks really good, are they including housing in this building? It would be kind of a cool out of the way but in the middle of everything place to live. The other thing that I noticed on my walk was the utility clear cuts that they have done in this old neighborhood. I may be wrong but they seem more radical then in other areas that may have had someone overseeing how much they were cutting. I know we can't "live" without electricity, no one would ever pay the cost of putting lines underground and all of that, but it looks and feels like they were getting paid by how much they cut down. They also left a mess of limbs and dead vines in the park there. You sure can see where and how the power lines go if you are into that!
Seems like the BWL listens to tiny minorities of people,[ the people who said why didn't you cut more] and is a bit thin skinned when it comes to criticism of their actions. I don't see any balance in most of these cuts. Over at the Main Street Apartments they cut down to the stump a whole row of trees, maybe the owner wanted them to, I don't know, but it sure looks drastic. Most streets that had an archway of branches over the street now have half of that and half a line of power poles and lines. It takes a while but I guess one day they trees will fill in.
Nice, great to see bike lanes put in. The road looks really good. Next step would be to clean up the sidewalks (at least sweep them) and add more placemaking elements like benches.
Those are new bicycles in the truck blocking the bike lane. :-)
If I remember right that was part of the route that was under consideration for the River Trail to Frandor segment instead of bike lanes on Michigan. Hopefully this is the first step towards that. It should help Riverfront Cycle if it is.
When I look at googlemaps I can see there could be a bike/pedestrian path to Frandor crossing the green space behind Eastern and LCC HS hooking up with one of the streets like Vine St over to Frandor. It would be a route bike commuters would more likely take to get to downtown from EL as it would be more direct than the river trail. I think that is a great idea and maybe it could have a branch that hooks up with the Fairview Park, Grosebeck, and Bancroft Park.
That pavement is so nice, sometimes when I am on one of the newly paved streets I think how enjoyable and relaxing it would be to drive around Lansing, if all the streets were smooth and newly paved. The new pavement itself really improves the look of the neighborhoods they run through. Be on the look out for utility digs in your favorite new pavement, and report them, like on W. Mt Hope where they repaved about six blocks west of MLK and then dig into the new pavement in about ten places. It was really nice for about 4 or 5 months now it's full of bumps and holes.
That's good to hear about the sidewalk on Dunckel. I'd like to see at least one side of Aurelius with sidewalks between Mt Hope and Cavanaugh next. I remember reading on the city's website that their current funding level only allows for a half-mile of new sidewalk per year.
I've looked for the article I read about the Downtown to Frandor bike path and I can't find it. I remember it went east along Shiawassee and somehow followed Jerome towards Frandor. Not really much help.
Hey there - I've been a long time viewer of this thread but just recently decided to join the conversations. I appreciate the in-depth info and behind the scenes work that is done to keep people in the loop. Thanks for keeping this going!
I ran into a to a local re-developer while walking my dog in the Cherry Hill neighborhood a few weeks ago. It sounds like 2 or 3 of the apartment buildings and a couple duplexes have been bought up by the same group on E. Hillsdale St., just west of River St. Park. You can see from the street that there is already extensive gutting on one apartment building. Does anyone have more info on this project or the long-term plans for that district?
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If I remember right that was part of the route that was under consideration for the River Trail to Frandor segment instead of bike lanes on Michigan. Hopefully this is the first step towards that. It should help Riverfront Cycle if it is.
That pavement is so nice, sometimes when I am on one of the newly paved streets I think how enjoyable and relaxing it would be to drive around Lansing, if all the streets were smooth and newly paved. The new pavement itself really improves the look of the neighborhoods they run through. Be on the look out for utility digs in your favorite new pavement, and report them, like on W. Mt Hope where they repaved about six blocks west of MLK and then dig into the new pavement in about ten places. It was really nice for about 4 or 5 months now it's full of bumps and holes.
I've looked for the article I read about the Downtown to Frandor bike path and I can't find it. I remember it went east along Shiawassee and somehow followed Jerome towards Frandor. Not really much help.
I ran into a to a local re-developer while walking my dog in the Cherry Hill neighborhood a few weeks ago. It sounds like 2 or 3 of the apartment buildings and a couple duplexes have been bought up by the same group on E. Hillsdale St., just west of River St. Park. You can see from the street that there is already extensive gutting on one apartment building. Does anyone have more info on this project or the long-term plans for that district?