highwayguy

It would be really nice to have the brick, but it's hard to blame the engineers of 30+ years ago for removing them. I'm sure they never imagined that we would want to bring back brick streets in the future, let alone reuse the old bricks to do it. I'm glad to see they narrowed the street and put in bulb-outs. Highways should be wide, city streets should not. The differentiation between the asphalt and concrete will become less drastic as the asphalt gets lighter and the concrete gets darker, but there will still be some differentiation. And I suppose the asphalt will generate less tire noise than concrete (and much less than brick). But, it won't last as long as concrete would have. Lets hope they built it well and it doesn't need crack sealing or patching for a long time.

It has now been determined that it's NOT authentic. The guy who found it now says he'll probably hang it in his shed. Link: http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6953374

I wonder why they didn't just do the whole thing in concrete? Maybe this is so it would be easier to go back and put brick in later if funding became available? Or maybe it was done to match the design of the blocks to the east (minus the brick)? Or maybe it's just to save some cost? Anyone know?

I agree, the Cascade Meijer is by far the best implementation of the "village" facade, and I hope they keep it beyond the current remodel. My guess is that they will, since they seem to have very carefully placed a new access door into one of the "store fronts". Speaking of which, the inside of the Cascade Meijer is basically in a state of chaos. The pharmacy is still open but all of the HBA items have been moved - down the center of the east main aisle, into the seasonal section, basically wherever they had room. Much of the store is a patchwork of old and new flooring, with the back aisle still not lining up correctly. The walls around electronics remain unfinished, and the back wall near pets, which appeared complete a few weeks ago, is one again under construction. Chips, bread, and pop are still in the back corner behind the milk coolers, although new coolers have now appeared near the former location of lunch meats. Cheese is now located in a new cooler along the new west wall, but is behind the butter and yogurt coolers which are still located where the old west wall was. A large area in the center of the grocery section is enclosed in plastic, where the new deli is under construction. The meat counter is in a temporary location in the southwest corner, just to the left of where the new counter will be located. Basically, the store is under construction from one end to the other. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out when it is finished. It looks like the grocery section is going to be gigantic!

I'm sure it's not a rental property, as Habitat is all about home ownership. Although they usually prefer to build single family homes, I know they have done condo units for years in places like New York City, where there is really no other choice but to go up. I would assume that unlike a typical condo the owners would still somehow be responsible for the upkeep of the yard around the building, as I just can't see Habitat paying someone to do that, or charging the homeowners for it, or sending volunteers over indefinitely to do it.

Wow, trying to find things in the Cascade Meijer is becoming somewhat of an adventure! By the way, if you go in there looking for a lightbulb, for some reason they're all over in the grocery area, at least for now.....

I will add to this that the remodeled Alpine Meijer has a VERY limited paint selection. The entire paint section is now just one aisle. I do not recall seeing anywhere in the paint aisle a machine for mixing of colors. And in fact, although there is a sign for "exterior paint", there is not a single can to be found anywhere on the shelf, nor is there even space set aside for it! I ended up going to Menards for my paint needs.

I heard that Alpine Ave was scheduled to open Wednesday but was postponed due to weather (probably did not want to paint lines with the chance of rain). I believe it should now be open Thursday. BTW, the right lane of northbound US-131 from north of Leonard St to Ann St, as well as the Ann St exit ramp, are scheduled to close starting late next week. There is also an upcoming project on I-196 that will close ramps and lanes west of downtown. Should make for some interesting commutes...

I believe you meant to say US-127 between Lansing and Jackson. US-23 is further east, between Flint, Brighton, Ann Arbor, Dundee, and Toledo. The Meijer in this photo is most likely the Mason Meijer, which is located here. Having previously lived on the south side of Lansing for a couple of years, I have shopped here a few times. I think it was probably built in the late 1990s.

The city's construction notice for this project says that Richmond is supposed to reopen three weeks from now, the Friday before Memorial Day. I haven't been by there to see how things are progressing, but hopefully they will be done by then.

Hopefully the traffic on northbound US-131 will flow a lot better now that the traffic shift is in place. Just remember, as you approach Ann St, you must now be in the left 2 lanes to continue north on US-131. The right lane is only for traffic going to I-96 or Ann St.

I recently stumbled upon this collection of photos of signs in the Grand Rapids area and found it interesting. Enjoy!

I was going to post some info on closures in the area, but then I thought, why not just give the links to the websites..... MDOT Lane Closures MDOT's 2007 Construction Map, "Paving the Way" Kent County Closures Kent County Construction Projects City of Grand Rapids Closures AAA Construction Report And some traffic info sites: Clear Channel Traffic Grand Rapids Skyview Traffic Google Traffic MDOT Traffic Cameras MSP Road Conditions

Bridge work to close section of Alpine There goes one of the alternate routes to avoid the road work on US-131.....

My prediction: the city will go through the approval process for a temporary lot but will not build it right away. If Second Story closes on the property by the end of July, the lot will never get built. But if they ask for an extension again, or it falls through completely, there will be a lot there within two weeks. (I have no info to back any of this up, just a prediction!) PS - Woohoo, post #200!!!

Yes, they will have one lane open in each direction this coming week on the south (eastbound) side of the road. It is scheduled to start Tuesday and continue until Friday. The incorrect date at the bottom appears to be left over from the original notice (should be February 23). ROAD CLOSURE NOTIFICATION UPDATE Closing Number: Closing Name: BRIDGE STREET Notification Date: 02/02/2007 Closure Type: Partial Closure Street Closed: BRIDGE STREET Street From: SCRIBNER Street To: THE GRAND RIVER Starting Date: 02/20/2007 09:00AM Ending Date: 02/23/2007 05:00PM Originating dept: Traffic Safety - 456-3066 Contact: MATT CARSEN, WOLVERINE CONSTRUCTION, 248-3001 Description: UPDATED TO DELAY START DATE DUE TO COLD WEATHER BRIDGE STREET WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE IN EACH DIRECTION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF RIVERHOUSE CONDOMINUIMS. AT 5 PM ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, A SECOND LANE FOR EASTBOUND TRAFFIC WILL OPEN AND THE CURB LANE FOR WESTBOUND BRIDGE WILL REMAIN CLOSED.

Closures on Pearl Street and Fulton Street in the next two weeks: Street Closed: EASTBOUND PEARL STREET Street From: WEST OF CAMPAU Street To: Starting Date: 02/19/2007 07:00AM Ending Date: 02/23/2007 04:00PM Description: EASTBOUND PEARL WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE FOR INSTALLATION OF UNDERGROUND CONDUIT FOR CONSUMERS ENERGY TO FEED THE NEW HOTEL. THE EASTBOUND CURB LANE WILL BE OPENED EACH DAY AT 4:00 P.M. UNTIL 7:00 A.M. THE NEXT DAY. Street Closed: EASTBOUND PEARL STREET Street From: WEST OF CAMPAU Street To: Starting Date: 02/23/2007 05:00PM Ending Date: 03/02/2007 05:00PM Description: EASTBOUND PEARL WILL BE REDUCED TO ONE LANE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF DRIVEWAYS Street Closed: WESTBOUND FULTON Street From: DIVISION Street To: COMMERCE Starting Date: 02/20/2007 09:00AM Ending Date: 02/23/2007 05:00PM Description: WESTBOUND FULTON STREET WILL BE CLOSED FOR REPAIR OF UNDERGROUND ELECTRICAL FACILITIES. WESTBOUND DETOUR: DIVISION TO WESTON TO COMMERCE TO FULTON

I think we can all relate.....

Westbound will be closed completely the first half of the summer, with only one eastbound lane open. It won't be until later in the year when there will be one lane open each way.

They would like to relocate the Amtrak station to Central Station to have everything in one place (Amtrak, Greyhound, and The Rapid). Even though the trains couldn't come right up to the building, I believe that all of the station operations, such as ticketing, would be handled in the Central Station building. However, it is years away from happening, mostly because there are not any tracks there at the current moment, and railroads apparently move very slowly. IMO, this could also be a good starting point for several commuter rail lines as well. Here are some photos of the current station. They are almost 10 years old, but it still looks the same. And here is a map showing its current location.

Thanks for the update. I hope they are able to find some use for that building one of these days. I'm glad to see Meijer successfully competing with Wal-Mart. Every time I drive through Ionia the Meijer parking lot seems to be a lot busier than Wal-Mart's parking lot. Maybe, just maybe, if Meijer is successful enough, they'll be able to keep Wal-Mart from building too many more stores in Michigan.

Hey blueradon, is the old Meijer store on the north side of Greenville still empty? I haven't driven past there in probably close to two years.

US-131 will have at least 2 lanes open in each direction through both construction zones, except during some non-peak times when it may be reduced to one. The work for repairs (mostly north of downtown) that will require lane closures will also be done mostly during non-peak times (nights and weekends). I-196 will also have work on multiple bridges throughout the summer. I wouldn't expect much to be done on the Jenison interchange project this year. As DwntwnGeo said, the pavement replacement and widening is scheduled for 2010-2012. They have to widen all of the bridges first, otherwise it would have to go back to two lanes at every overpass.

The westbound Ottawa Ave exit ramp and westbound Ionia Ave entrance ramp are now open!

This article from the Grand Rapids Press says that the work on I-196 downtown and I-96 over the Grand Rapids Eastern Railroad "got a late start because crews were waiting for steel to be delivered, and in one case, utility companies to complete prep work". Of course they also said that all work would be completed by the end of the year..... Also, a heads up for anyone who drives: if you thought there was a lot of construction last summer, just wait until this summer!