KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A project that has taken years to put together to improve safe access to two schools in Kalamazoo will have to wait another month, because suddenly some of the parents involved don’t like the plan.
A proposal to add a sidewalk in the Winchell area is popular with the neighborhood, but a plan to move the crossing at Merrill and Howard further up Howard Street Hill, near Maple Street Magnet drew fire this week from parents in the Vine Neighborhood who say the changes aren’t an improvement.
The city’s plan is to move the crossing, add a pedestrian refuge island, reduce traffic to one lane in both directions with a center turn lane and bike paths.
Public Works director James Baker says they can’t put the island at the intersection.
Somewhere there was a failure to communicate, but delays or changes now could jeopardize a hard-won federal school safety grant that would help pay for the projects.
Commissioners will give staff a month to look at the options to see if a solution can be found.
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