Campus Connector project to wrap up remaining details this summer

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Last fall’s Campus Connector project will be completed this summer after minor issues left some work unfinished.

The project involves fixing and widening the sidewalks on Main Street, along with increased lighting.

“We did this primarily to create a safer walking environment for students who live on Main Street,” said City Manager Kathie Grinzinger.

The city’s other main objective was to make an easier connection with the downtown area and CMU’s campus.

However, when work was completed last fall, there were some issues with trees that needed to be removed, leaving some areas of the sidewalk unfinished.

“At first they decided to work around them, but later figured they’d rather just take the trees out and put sidewalk straight through in those areas,” said Randy Chesney, Mount Pleasant interim director of public works and city engineer.

The city continued work with the rest of the sidewalk, but there are still about a dozen spots that need work, he said.

Although the enhanced lighting was paid for by a $100,000 state energy grant, the sidewalk improvements were covered entirely by the city.

No new expenses will be incurred from replacing the sidewalk where trees were removed.

“We reserved several thousand dollars from the project budget to cover these costs,” Grinzinger said.

The earliest the fixes could occur is the beginning of May. The city does not plan to begin fixing the areas until most CMU students are gone for the summer, Chesney said.

When the city first decided to initiate the project, it asked for citizen input, using a facilitator and focus groups. Residents and students came together, Grinzinger said, throwing ideas around at a few meetings about what needed to be done with Washington and Main streets.

Many suggestions were heard, including going back to two-way streets. But reverting back to that format and other intricate street plans raised questions and confusion among residents. There was also lack of significant funds for the large project, Grinzinger said.

The City Commission found working on lighting and sidewalks to be more affordable because of the energy grant.

“I think we do need to look at the original reasons for going to one-ways to see if they still have any meaning,” said Vice Mayor Kathy Ling. “One-ways are based on an old model of just getting traffic down and back, but recent research indicates they speed up traffic and cause congestion problems.”

Although the city does not yet have the resources, Ling said she is confident it will at some point make those changes.

“In the future, we may take a look at the other suggestions,” Grinzinger said. “But it’s not on radar for this year.”