KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – After gathering public input over the last several months, the City of Kalamazoo will host an open house to review the proposed two-way design for Michigan Avenue next Thursday, January 16.
The Streets for All Community Open House will start at 5:30 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition, located at 315 West Michigan Ave. A virtual session will also be available Thursday, January 23, at 12:00 p.m.
The plan to convert Michigan Avenue from a one-way to a two-way street is part of Kalamazoo’s Streets for All initiative.
City officials say community input is a key part of the process. The design for Kalamazoo Avenue was updated last year based on feedback from the Stuart neighborhood.
For Michigan Avenue, conversations have included items like bike lanes and on-street parking options, including parallel and angled parking.
Traffic engineers have studied how Michigan Avenue would work if the community’s downtown vision became a reality. They say the vision includes creating a more welcoming, inclusive, and lively space with safe travel for drivers, walkers, bikers, and transit users. At the open house, 3-D models will show how cars, pedestrians, buses, bikes, and parking would interact along the street, both from above and at street level.
I do not plan on driving downtown. Let the bicycle riders support Kalamazoo. My friend drove there and got a $70 parking ticket. The bike lane people can support the businesses.