Sidewalks, lighting, moving forward in campus connector
Sidewalks and lighting will likely be the only portion of the campus connector project moving forward this summer.
The Mount Pleasant City Commission on Monday approved the widening of sidewalks to 8 feet, increased lighting and artwork, and mandated snow removal to move forward with the project that seeks to redevelop the pathway between downtown and Central Michigan University’s campus.
The approval also will send back street designs to engineering.
The action was decided upon in a 5-2 vote, with Mayor Jim Holton and Commissioner Jeffrey Palmer dissenting.
“It does sound like we’re not ready to proceed,” said Commissioner Kathy Ling. “If we’re really looking to make a difference there, we need some buy-in (from students).”
With the decision, the commission voted to accept a $100,000 state energy grant for the increased lighting. The budget for the project is $250,000, the first option costing $274,000 and the second costing $460,000.
The commission had two options for street design to review Monday. The first design would create two-way bicycle lanes on Main Street and reduce the street to one lane, and make Washington a two-way street with no bicycle lanes. The second option would add a bicycle lane and create two-way traffic on Washington and Main streets.
The commission felt uncomfortable with the two options and requested a third option that had both as two-way streets with bicycle lanes.
Director of Public Safety Tony Gomez-Mesquita said while accidents have been minimal on Washington and Main streets, the first plan would not be effective.
“The (Michigan) State Police said two-way bike lanes on streets is improper,” he said. “Passing will likely occur in the bicycle lanes.”
Gomez-Mesquita said a change in the flow of traffic would confuse local residents, as well as students.
“Students who have been in our community will have to get used to that,” he said. “That will be a challenge.”
Rich Morrison, director of community services and economic development, contrasted the proposed bicycle lanes to ones on Ojibway, Calumet and Ottawa courts on campus. He said the bicycle lanes on campus are for a continuous loop, while the proposed bicycle lanes for the connector would have plenty of starts and stops.
“There are nine intersections,” Morrison said. “That’s important because there are conflicts in traffic.”
Duane Ellis, director of public works, said while the decision to work on the roads was postponed, the city could still redo the roads this summer if the commission decided to move forward.
“There’s a little bit of construction — not much,” he said.
Several residents spoke out against some aspects of the design. Scott Webber said the bicycle lanes could be moved to University Avenue because of the lesser amount of car traffic. Such an action, he said, would remove bicyclists from the sidewalk.
“If you make (car traffic) one-way, you’re increasing traffic on Main Street,” he said. “(Bicyclists) already ride on the sidewalk.”
