[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

For fun, I've updated my imagined streetcar/BRT route map! The dark green line is the proposed first segment.

[New Construction and Renovations in the Heartside District]

This does prevent large developers from coming in developing. However despite this, I dont mind it 'undeveloped'. This area allows for more 'common' business owners to start affordable shops in the downtown area, rather than benefiting large business or bar moguls if it was developed. Therefore I would say this 'undeveloped' area does provide diversity in the city.

I like this argument. This is one way (in addition to, say, their consummate connection to the neighborhood) the homeless (and other irritating personalities for that matter) add "character"--not so much via their presence, which can be a bit of a pain but is rarely dangerous, but in the way they scare off some other elements which, to me, are irritating and undesirable in their own right: rich pricks, hicks, boring chains, expensive condos, $10 martini bars, etc. That'll be the fate of South Ionia, which is fine, because the more's the merrier for downtown as a whole, but for South Division let's keep some grit.

I also know some wonderful, neighborhood-enriching, not-so-good-at-making-money characters who are able to live there (in subsidized apartments) only due to Dwelling Place's vision for the neighborhood as a multi-income jungle/paradise.

[The State of Downtown Grand Rapids Retail]

Hey, is it possible to have a cigarette at ANY of these places?

You would think if there's 10 coffee shops at least one would have a smoking section.

I'm guessing the answer is no, so I'll be sticking with Common Ground.

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

Seattle builds a streetcar:

The Seattle line will share road lanes with automobiles, except at the lake, where the tracks go inside the park instead of on congested Valley Street. Streetcars will have priority to cross at traffic signals.

But if the streetcars are spaced 15 minutes apart, and mingle with traffic, people might as well walk, skeptics say.

Licata faults the city for not emulating Tacoma, where the streetcar runs in its own median right of way. In Seattle, supporters got political traction by proposing the cheaper in-street design.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/loca...reetcar21m.html

[Grand Rapids Then and Now]

peeking under skin

I was recently in downtown Ypsilanti and they still have this sh*t, pardon my French, covering up the fa

[Wealthy Street Mega Thread]

It's eastern terminus is in EGR.

If you're heading the other direction, I'm not sure where it ends up as I usually use it to get on 131, but don't go further west than that.

It ends in a very industrial area next to the former Butterworth dump, (future city park). It turns north and terminates on Butterworth.

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

Knape has an interesting point to make on his blog:

Here's something people seem to be keeping a secret about downtown: Grand Rapids already has a free streetcar system of sorts -- the DASH bus.

If you're not a commuter who parks in one of the city's DASH lots, you might not know that those little purplish buses scooting around downtown offer free transportation in three fixed circular routes. You don't need to show a parking pass to take the ride, just hop on.

The unadvertised potential of DASH is its ability to go beyond being a mere parking shuttle. You actually can use the things to get around town -- say, from Grand Valley's DeVos campus to Happy Hour at Bite (soon to be the Ottawa Tavern) at Lyon and Ottawa.

Today I took it from the Press (actually, a stop in front of the Ford Federal Building) to the downtown YMCA and back. Press writer and spinning expert Ted Roelofs touted this as a way to cut his "carbon footprint." Like me, I think he was just sick of dealing with the ridiculous YMCA parking lot at lunchtime.

You might want to see if the DASH buses would work as means for you to reduce the need to get around downtown during the day. Here's a link to the route map.

Now I know, GrDad is right and buses aren't streetcars (the bit about the motion of buses is spot on), but it is interesting that we have this actual operating program that approximates a 3-line system--a completely free system, no less--and we don't even realize it or advertise it as such. Or does that actually show how right GrDad is?

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

I'm not quite sure what I foresee being the ultimate setup. I think you're right in that steetcars might be limited as far as extending out to the suburbs. I was maybe thinking that the Monroe line could be switched over to LRT vehicles at some point if/when the line gets extended, which can carry more passengers. Pretty much every light rail line in this country that has been built in the last 20 years also serves a dual role as a "streetcar" (mixing with traffic) as they enter downtown districts.

I think we're basically on the same page here. Perhaps a rule of thumb should be something like: stay on the street when there is a business center within 1 mile. Try to find a high-speed dedicated ROW when the distance to the next business center is more than 1 mile.

Still the nicer option in my opinion is the dedicated bus/streetcar lane. This would mean getting serious about public transport--i.e. making car traffic worse so that the public transit can be better.

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

I hate to rain on your plans again winjer, but I think once you get outside of the "near-downtown" area, then the light rail lines should not follow the major arteries like Plainfield, Fulton or Alpine. They should then travel on their own ROW, maybe either using a current rail corridor or in a new ROW. There is no benefit of them traveling with auto traffic through the suburbs, and the sooner they can be separated, the more "rapid" they become.

If we're talking commuter rail I can see what you're saying--use the expressway median. But I'm still thinking streetcars running through urban areas here--they need to be visible, accessible, and should go right in front of businesses...so they pretty much have to be in the existing roads, don't you think? In residential areas it's a different story...but where do you find the ROWs anyway?

What if we had dedicated bus/streetcar lanes? I know a lot of these roads seems to be going to 1 lane in either direction, anyways, just for the sake of traffic calming. (Plainfield and Fulton east of Fuller, for example.) I assume the streetcars will be flipping lights too, which would help. Nobody's expecting them to go faster than a car in traffic...but they have to be able to compete.

Another thing...how do the stops for these things work? Are they on medians right in the middle of the road?

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

OK, I've revised the route as GRDad suggested:

Here's an even more ambitious zoom-out:

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

Ha! Too funny. Those radii (sp?) really caught my attention too. I think I may have just found my answer. The South Gibbs extension (one line two directions) of PDX's streetcar separates from traffic into its own corridor HERE, which is the ultimate way to go if possible. They also have bike lanes on either side of the rail line.

HERE IS that spot where it crosses the campus of Portland State Univ. (?), that you see in so many pictures.

http://www.railwaypreservation.com/vintage...etcar_30_sm.JPG

I see that both directions sometimes combine into the same track. I guess that's a cost saving measure for routes that aren't going to see a lot of cars all at once. The isolated corridor thing works well for areas dominated by other infrastructure as opposed to destinations...you want to get through there as quickly as possible. But I would argue that you wouldn't want that elsewhere--the whole idea is to put the businesses, traffic, people, and streetcars all in the same glorious urban landscape.

I see that the South Gibbs extension turns into what looks like a standard single rail and then abruptly ends, but it looks like there's some development right at the terminus, in what looks like a former industrial area next to the river.

Woohoo, this is fun. Can someone please give my map to the Rapid big-wigs.

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

If you really want to take an overhead look of Portland's system winjer (and anyone else), go to this link. The image you see is at Hoyt and 10th in the Pearl District. The Northbound streetcar is in the center of the image, the gray line is the light rail line, and a street over to the West (left) is the returning Southbound line. You can follow it around the loop and see some interesting characteristics (radius of the turns, development along the lines, complete lack of any parking ramps, how the lines are set in relation to on-street parking, etc.).

Yikes, those are some large radius turns. I see that the track changes to the outer lane every time it makes a turn. That's probably why opposite-bound tracks are a couple of blocks apart, eh?

I was in Toronto last summer and the tracks there don't do that, instead they make a horrible scrape/screech noise at every turn. You seriously think the whole thing is about to derail for the first 5 times you hear it.

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

I think that's precisely what the ultimate goal should be in 20-30 years. It's going to take time to swallow the costs to make it a reality. I would also like to see the original streetcar line loop back down to the South end, either via Division, or go across Leonard and come back South on Seward. I also don't think I'd run a line down Monroe Center. I think it's too narrow and would be too slow, and just a block off on either Louis or Pearl would be close enough. What do you think winjer?

In addition, commuter rails feeding into the line would help get some highway travelers off the road.

Might there be an argument for avoiding loops (i.e., instead, squashing loops into lines) so that folks can always plan on going in either direction without having to remember which road is which way?

Pearl would work well as a replacement for Monroe Ctr. in that 'Monroe Ctr.-S. Division' line....but having it on Monroe Ctr would be 'picture perfect' don't you think? If the streetcar can flip lights it might actually speed up traffic on that road...well on the other hand it might be too cramped for tracks in both directions, considering its a one-way right now and I wouldn't want to lose any parking there....

OK, let's make it 'Pearl-S. Division'! I can hear the robot (or conductor?) voice now: "Transfer to ... Wealthy-Eastown"... sounds nice, doesn't it!

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

Proposed Streetcar Alignment North South

Future Phases and Connections

I've thought a little bit about the proposed streetcar route. I think it makes a lot of sense as an start, and if/when the promised economic returns materialize, several additional lines suggest themselves.

I came up with the following system, which connects the heart of downtown with all of the important surrounding neighborhoods. It could be done in phases, gradually replacing inner-city bus lines. Take a look and let me know what you think:

[Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids]

Most all of Division south of downtown is at least 4 lanes wide (two lanes of traffic each direction)and 5 in some places. What if the City were to dedicate one lane in each direction for tansit (LTR or BRT)? Wouldn't it be possible for the City to "curb" off this transit lane so drivers could not jump lanes? This would create a dedicated ROW for a tranist system. There are additional services that Cities have put on BRT to "adjust or change" stop lights on cross streets to make the transit lane more effient and on time by not having to stop at each and every light. Of course the major down side to this plan would be the adjustment required by drivers to have one lane in each direction instead of two. Another option in some areas where street side parking is available is to loose the parking lane verses the driving lane. Maybe the frustration of driving on only one lane would encourage additional users of the transit system? or maybe it would encourage them not to go downtown?

Division would be a great choice. As far as having only 1 driving lane...the city has already been doing this to several other major roads. Four lanes are converted into bike lanes+regular lanes+center turn lane. this has happened on Fulton east of Carlton and Plainfield north of Creston neighborhood. It's a traffic calming measure!

[Medical Mile/Michigan Street Developments]

Man, that Towers building is looking more frumpy every day.

[Highway and Road Construction Updates]

Aren't design charrette's lovely?

If only there was a way to make an elegant pedestrian overpass. You're going up stairs anyways, you might as well make half the hike on the west side of Division. Plus it's going to be hard to calm the traffic in that spot. Were there any other sketches along these lines?

Or maybe a button that turns on a red light (like, right away). Newberry/Ionia/Division might end up needing a light anyways with all the new traffic from the medical complex, pill hill, development across the 6th street bridge, etc.

Anyways, it looks great. What are the chances of getting cooperation from MDOT?

[Gallery on Fulton]

Perhaps all of this negativity is justified, but I think that Second Story is a top-notch company and I'm willing to give them some slack.

I also love the idea of UICA anchoring that spot. It would bridge the new Civic with all of the new galleries/performance spaces in the 100 block of S. Division.