By: Deborah Johnson Wood
A $10,000 grant from the Dyer-Ives Foundation could be seed funding for the re-design of several connectors across I-196. Grand River Valley Gateways and Passages Partnership, better known as the Gateways Group, is spearheading an initiative to construct new bridges with pedestrian/cyclist-friendly features, attractive landscaping and decorative facades.
The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to replace the Coit Avenue bridge and the Lafayette Avenue underpass as part of next year’s overhaul of I-196 between Fuller Avenue and the Grand River in Grand Rapids. The College Avenue bridge is already undergoing construction.
The Dyer-Ives grant pays for renderings to show potential donors what exists now, what could exist with current funding, and what the bridges and underpass could look like with even more funding and aesthetic design.
“The focus of the Gateways Group is on the protection and enhancement of critical gateways,” says Rob McCarty, a member of the group.
The group has met with MDOT and neighborhood and business associations hammering out design ideas over several months. Wide sidewalks and bike lanes are high on the list of mobility enhancements for residents; period lighting, decorative fencing and landscaping will create an inviting aesthetic for motorists.
The cost is about $2 million. MDOT and the Grand Rapids Smart Zone funding covers the Coit bridge improvements, but the Gateways Group is working to raise private funds and grants for enhancements to the College bridge and Lafayette underpass.
“Now we can use the bridges to improve the aesthetic and join the people in those neighborhoods to all the jobs and activity going on across the highway, rather than being isolated by it,” says Lee Nelson Weber, Dyer-Ives’ neighborhood initiative director.
Residents will also need to connect to the city’s proposed $40 million Silver Line Rapid Transit, which will travel along Michigan to downtown.
Source: Rob McCarty, Grand River Valley Gateways and Passageways Partnership; Lee Nelson Weber, Dyer-Ives Foundation; Andy Guy, MOBL NOBL
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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