KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The City of Kalamazoo has the outline of a grand plan to revitalize the downtown.
It is so big it will have to be done in Phases. The next phase that begins today calls for adding bike lanes and narrowing traffic lanes along Westnedge Avenue and Park on the northside.
The work on Stadium Drive is another phase of the big new plan.
City planners unveiled the big plan at a recent city meeting. It calls for eliminating one way streets, slowing traffic downtown to ease pedestrian and bike traffic, and to make parking easier. They say safety is a big consideration.
The big projects would convert Michigan and Kalamazoo Avenues to two-way. Traffic Engineer Dennis Randolph says figuring out how to do it without major disruptions will be key, because 60,000 vehicles travel through downtown on the average weekday.
They estimate it will take a decade or more to accomplish if they can secure the funding.
The goal is to basically undo some of the changes that were made the last time the City had a grand plan to revitalize the downtown 70 years ago.
(reporting from John McNeill)
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