MUSKEGON, MI Expressing concern about community negativity over a study into narrowing Shoreline Drive, Muskegon city commissioners have added a new parameter that could halt it early.
The first phase of the study that will temporarily reduce one lane in each direction of Shoreline Drive is set to begin next month. The second phase is planned for mid-April to mid-July next year.
But commissioners decided this week that the second phase isnt a given. They will decide whether to proceed with the second phase after the results of the fall study are in.
Among the data the study will provide are how much the narrowing of Shoreline a divided four-lane boulevard will delay traffic and how many motorists divert onto neighborhood streets.
The study is part of city leaders exploration of ways to better and more safely connect the downtown and nearby neighborhoods with the Muskegon Lake waterfront, which Shoreline divides.
Since the city began talking about the road diet, people have taken to Facebook and other forums to criticize the idea and apparently have been bending the ears of a few commissioners.
Commissioner Michael Ramsey said its been a nightmare for city staff and commissioners as they prepare for the study and thanked all of them for fielding the emails and the phone calls and the flip-offs.
For those who dont understand why we would do even a test, Ramsey explained that its to get information to make a well-informed decision on the roadways future.
I would encourage everyone to reach out to us directly, to stay off Facebook and get a proper education and understand the opportunities that lay before us as a community so that even if we disagree, we can do so respectfully as we move forward, Ramsey said.
Related: Shoreline Drive trial road diet begins soon in Muskegon
The study this fall will be done during a time when lanes would have to be closed anyway for such routine road maintenance as patching, Muskegon Public Works Director Leo Evans told the commission at their meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Expected to last four to six weeks, the study that will begin in early October will look at alternately closing outside lanes in both directions as well as inside lanes between Seventh and Terrace streets.
The preliminary data from that study should give us a little bit of insight into whats working or not working, Evans said.
Computer modeling has suggested the narrowing can be done without significant disruption, city officials said.
Vice Mayor Willie German Jr. asked, What would a successful study look like on this project?
To which Interim City Manager LeighAnn Mikesell responded Whatever data we get is good.
What we really want to do is understand whats going to happen when we close these lanes, Mikesell said. So, to me, success is just getting the study completed and having data that really captures whats happening.
German wasnt satisfied, saying there should be a specific goal in mind.
I just dont see the significance here, he said. I guess the answer didnt fit the question.
Ramsey responded that there shouldnt be a question of whats the best outcome for the study.
It really is about what comes out of it in numbers, black and white, he said. Thats the benefit of the study.
Commissioner Eric Hood, agreed, saying, Were fact finding, and once that fact finding is done then a decision can be made.
That decision on whether to pursue narrowing Shoreline will depend upon commissioners perspectives on, for example, how much of any resulting delay in getting through that stretch is acceptable or how much extra traffic on other streets is acceptable, Mayor Ken Johnson said.
He compared the potential narrowing of Shoreline to the narrowing of Muskegon and Webster avenues that were turned into two-way rather than one-way streets. Before Shoreline was built, the avenues were the main business route through town and divided Nelson Neighborhood from downtown, Johnson said.
At the time Shoreline was built about 20 years ago, the waterfront was still an industrialized area and wasnt contemplated as the appealing area its becoming, he said.
The western section of Shoreline Drive was completed in 1994, and the eastern portion was finished 10 years later.
Narrowing Shoreline could provide an opportunity for bike lanes, parks or even parking on the unused portion, Johnson said.
Mikesell said officials with the Michigan Department of Transportation, which controls Shoreline Drive, indicated if Shoreline eventually is narrowed it initially would be done so by combining traffic onto one of the divided boulevards and leaving the other side intact so that it can be returned to its present state if necessary.
Initially, the city had contemplated doing the traffic study on Shoreline in one phase this year. Dividing it into the two phases will provide additional information but also increased the price of data collection and analysis from $49,090 to $62,790.
Commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 13, agreed to pay the extra amount in its contract with Progressive AE.
Commissioners also agreed to pay $16,825 for traffic control devices for the first phase of the study. Traffic cones, pavement markings, barriers and planters will be used to block off the lanes.
German cast the sole lone vote on both measures.
The city has created a document that responds to frequently asked questions about the Shoreline Drive test project. It can be viewed by clicking here.
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Negativity over Shoreline Drive road diet test addressed by Muskegon commissioners - MLive.com
