JoeSchmo

Either way, its the darkest area in the city. Other areas of GR with matched income and population densities are not as dark. I was just adding it because I thought it was interesting and relevant. And I would probably argue further that the demographic of low income Hispanics are not going to bike very much and if they do ...they aren't going to use bike trails like the one on Century either.

I was looking at one of the photos above. The Backforty and Bdubs is going to start looking pretty tiny in their single and two story buildings.

I was looking at a heat map for biking the other day (by Strava) and noticed for whatever reason the heat map is relatively dark on much of the SW side. https://www.strava.com/heatmap#13.12/-85.68638/42.93998/hot/all Kinda interesting map either way.

Thats just currently an empty narrow parcel owned by the city along this 'proposed' path connection. I'm guessing its the consideration that this land could eventually be built on? I dug into the document and it certainly is mix of sources. Part of the section on Belknap lookout is quite old (2006) and the part about the Crescent Park mentioned above is from the study on Michigan Ave in 2015, but this also mentions the trail on Hastings. I reverse searched for some of the original sources and found them below...if interested Belknap Lookout Plan (2006) - https://www.belknaplookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MOBL-NOBL-Charratte-Aug-2006.pdf Michigan Street Corridor Plan (2015) - https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/files/assets/public/departments/planning-department/files/master-plan/neighborhood-plans-and-projects/area-specific-plans/michigan-street-corridor-plan.pdf

https://secure1.state.mi.us/mirgs/_Upload/69791-2GRHastingsProjectLocationMap.pdf Above is a proposal I found that has information regarding the proposed trail on Hastings. EDIT: I havent been over in that area lately, but from the proposal it looks like they are extending part of the path to Fairview Ave during the 196 construction

https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.schedule&id=0502576 According to the above link, the "site is ready for re-use and redevelopment" as of 2014. This was about when the solar project was being considered. I dont know what re-use and redevelopment allows for specifically. EDIT: Going to the redevelopment tab on the EPA site, it looks like the only development that was discussed with the EPA was in regards very specifically to the solar project.

Bump. Just out of curiousity, does anybody know if there has been anything about the future of this site? (It seems like this has been off the radar for a long while now?)

Change of topic slightly. While I was looking up ridership, I saw the Rapid ridership has been suffering since 2013/2014 with 25% lower ridership since. This seems pretty substantial. https://www.ridetherapid.org/about-the-rapid/performance/rides#monthly-ridership I could only think, is this because of lower gas prices and/or raising property values?

The infographic mentions that those are stats based on the fall of 2016. I am guessing daily ridership is lower in the summer...and lower on weekends.

Denhems on it. With that, it shows during peak times, 14 buses are spaced only 4 miles apart on a 56 mile loop. The project goal, I am sure was to increase volume first (articulating buses with standing room). Calling this a BRT I am sure helped the $57 million FTA grant.

I was trying to look up ridership data. The latest I could find, was in 2009, GV bus ridership hit 2,000,000. That might have been about 5,000 commuters/day during the school year. The estimates from a recent Mlive article, estimate going forward 10,000 to 13,000 daily riders. If this is the case, this is significant for a road that has 40,000 cars per day.

Colleges of Education, Nursing, Business, Health Professions, and Engineering are all based downtown. Not including graduate studies on top of that. I might be missing some too.

Theres aren't structures in the way, but there are some significant residential developments that it certainly would have to plow through. You can also see the east/west trail of lakes and muck (between Georgetown and Hudsonville) that perhaps could add challenges.

If even possible, this would push a lot of thru traffic from Michigan through the Belknap area. I'm going to guess the residents there enjoy the limited amount of thru traffic. Certainly the expensive properties on the edge of the hill there would not enjoy this extra traffic.

On each side, are those fake doorways painted on???

My first thought was this being a place for cheap drug use :/ I imagine even the nearby shelters have a challenging time maintaining their bathrooms on site.

This may be true to a certain degree, but I don't think it is as strong as you make it out. The Griffins have done a better job at attracting the younger crowd, especially with dollar beer, dollar dogs. I would say the Whitecaps probably have done a better job marketing as a family friendly event. So I suppose this may reinforce that idea. A good trip though if you live on the north side of the city, is to bike to a Whitecaps game from Riverside Park.

I feel what is meant, is that Bus 12 is designed for 'locals' and bus 50 is for 'GV students'. Since more or less that's how it has been and looks like that's what will continue. ~10 years ago I rode bus 50 and never once saw someone that wasn't a student. I guess not many people wanna cram onto a bus chock full of college students? I believe at that time the bus terminated at the bus station as well.

Are they keeping Bus Route 12 the same. Or is the plan for this route to still directly overlay Bus Route 50?

There were plenty of fires yesterday from arson ...most of them were car/garage fires closer to Leonard though..near 11th and 12th streets. The one on Powers, between 11th and 12th, happened between 1pm and 3pm and I think would have been the most visible one. From my understanding that particular fire leveled 2 garages, a car and a Harley.

I dont think anyone from Allendale or Standale will ride this ..except for college students and professors. Maybe I am wrong? But a loot of college students will continue to ride it. Aside from that, I always felt MSU has a good job promoting density on their campus. It helps the Freshmen don't drive. GVSU has never really done a good job at promoting density and probably does have more commuters than MSU. But as GVSU grows..this could change.

I am curious, are there any plans in the works at Alpine and Ann? Enterprise scrap metal and Baker Auto Parts are no more. I see a lot of work going on clearing the space at Baker. Also the auto sales place across the street moved all their vehicles off the property. There seems to be a lot of land that could be up for grabs or perhaps is already in process?

2035 will be a different world than today when it comes to cars. It is very likely that by 2035 over 80% of all cars sold will be autonomous. This could very easily change how transit, ride sharing, and even parking are all dealt with. Interesting to think about. I also read the strategic plan and many of the goal dates were unlisted. Are the unlisted goal dates the year 2023? A small interesting goal I read was 25% of the sidewalks plowed.

I didnt realize in June, EB 96 (between Leonard and the Beltline) is closing all summer as well. So come June (through August), both EB 96 and WB 196 official detour is through SB 131.

I'm a little confused about the right lane. The right lane currently connects to the Ottawa on-ramp. It seems like there are some space constraints. If this lane is extended past the Ottawa on-ramp, then it doesn't seem like there will be merging room for Ottawa? Will this become a pedal to the metal on ramp like Lane WB?