Update: At its Dec. 21, 2020 meeting, the City Commission approved Option 3-modified. The approval of Option 3-modified includes adding dedicated bike lanes on the southside of Hall Street from Grace Episcopal Church east to Lakeside Drive, modifying existing bump-outs several feet to accommodate sharrow pavement markings throughout the remainder of the project area instead of a slot-through design option. This will allow for all existing on-street parking to also remain unchanged with no loss of parking spaces.
Update: After two public engagement sessions, City staff and consultants received feedback from the Option 1 draft. As a result of those sessions, additional plan options have been created for the City Commission's consideration at its Monday, Dec. 21 meeting. Option 2 maintains on-street parking, with the exception of a few spaces adjacent to bump-outs, while placing sharrows throughout the corridor and maintaining the slot-through bump-out design that allows for cyclists to cut through bump-outs along with pavement markings delineating on-street parking and the travel lanes. Option 3 is the same as Option 2 with the exception that it provides dedicated bike lanes on the southside of Hall Street east of Grace Episcopal Church to Lakeside Drive. These options allow for the street design to be conducive to concerns for maintaining on-street parking while recognizing alternative mobility which still aligns with community visioning plans (2018 Master Plan and in-process Mobility-Bike Action Plan). It also provides for the same base construction design so that if the initial proposal for dedicated bike lanes is desired in the future, it will only require pavement marking changes with no construction alteration. Option 4 is to leave conditions as they are.
PROJECT SUMMARY
The cities of East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids have secured federal grant funding for a collaborative rotomill and resurfacing project on Hall Street from Plymouth Road to Lake Drive. The project was approved in the regional Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) through our metropolitan planning organization, the Grand Valley Metro Council. This project is slated for summer 2021.
There are two portions of this project: a shared portion with Grand Rapids and a portion EGR will take on its own. The shared portion extends from Plymouth Road to approximately Wilshire Drive. Federal funds towards this shared section are $245,643 with the local match of approximately $250,000, which will be split equally between EGR and Grand Rapids. EGR's section, stretches from approximately Wilshire Drive to Lake Drive, and is programmed with federal funding of $641,718 with the local match to EGR at $208,282.
EGR has been working with Progressive AE to create a communitywide Mobility/Bicycle Action Plan to identify, plan and integrate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in a coordinated effort with neighboring communities. Bike lane facilities on Hall Street connecting to Grand Rapids are identified change to this street segment. Over the past 20 years, citizen-initiated traffic-calming bump-outs have been installed on Hall Street to lower speeds. Proposed modifications and draft design plans (see below) indicate the City intends to keep these traffic-calming bump-outs while incorporating bike lane facilities with “slot-through” bump-out modifications where practical and feasible in coordination with similar infrastructure with Grand Rapids.
EGR will be sending notifications by mail to residents of the upcoming impacted area beyond promoting and soliciting greater community input and feedback through newsletters in water/sewer bills, City website, social media and e-newsletters.
The final plans will be completed and sent to the State by December for bid letting through the Michigan Department of Transportation's letting process. MDOT’s construction schedule for this project begins in July 2021.
Please contact the City at 616.940.4817 with questions and stay tuned for additional information.
RESOURCES
FAQs
What would the cost be to widen Hall from Plymouth to Breton (3,850' total length) to allow for 8' parking (north side only), two 5' dedicated bike lanes and two 10' travel lanes (38-foot total width face of curb to face of curb)?
The engineering estimate would be in the range of $275,000 to $300,000 in additional cost non participating cost (local EGR only cost).
What is the total cost of the slot-through bump out modifications throughout the project corridor?
The engineering estimate for these modifications is $50,000 which is a participating cost (share between federal grant and local EGR cost roughly 75% federal and 25% local EGR cost).
Are there costs to maintain on-street parking?
The options to maintain a level of on-street parking would be an additional $40,000 from engineering estimates. Parking lanes are not eligible for participation with federal grant funds. The City would cover the cost of these paving costs if one of these options is selected.
With options two and three maintaining on-street parking, what is the level of parking impact?
The parking study identified 204 total spaces withing the project limits (73 spaces from Plymouth to Breton and 131 spaces from Breton to Lake). Options two and three would allow for most existing on-street parking to remain, however the taper requirements for the slot through bump outs would reduce total on-street parking spaces from 204 to 182 or a loss 22 spaces in the overall corridor or over 10%. The distribution impact to Hall Street would be 14 spaces lost from Plymouth to Breton and 8 spaces lost from Breton to Lake.
* Please note the deadline to provide comments and feedback is set for Dec. 14 so City staff can compile and report comments for the City Commission's Dec. 21 meeting packet. Comments and feedback can still be submitted after Dec. 14 and will be provided to the City Commission up until the Dec. 21 meeting, but feedback and comments received after Dec. 14 will NOT be in the packet.