Streetlight installment on Broadway extended after donation
A plan by the City of Mount Pleasant to install pedestrian lighting on West Broadway Street has been extended after a $60,000 donation from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.
The project was originally budgeted to cost $120,000, covering the area of West Broadway Street between the railroad crossing and Harris Street. In the early stages of the project, city engineers made the decision that $20,000 of the budget would be used to install lighting at crosswalks near schools.
The donation by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe brings the budget up to $160,000, with the plan being to extend the area where lighting is installed from Harris Street to a point further west, potentially to Adams Street or Maxwell Street.
The installation on West Broadway is the latest development in a multi-year initiative by the City of Mount Pleasant to install more pedestrian lighting around the city. City manager Nancy Ridley cites a need for improved nighttime safety for pedestrians and drivers.
"The Broadway location was chosen to allow people from the west side of the city to safely walk to our parks, or to walk into the Downtown area," Ridley said.
Areas where additional lighting is needed are identified based on the recommendations from the Neighborhood Resource Unit, a group of city staff members including police officers, firefighters and other departments within city management. The Resource Unit choose the locations based off of accident data and the observations of police officers.
As part of the 2018-2022 Capital Improvement Plan, the budget for the lighting project will be finalized on September 11, with development beginning December 2018.
