A kickoff meeting will finalize design plans for streetscaping program in the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood on Feb. 16 at the Detroit Transportation Service Center.
The Michigan Department of Transportation awarded a $569,500 grant to enhance Grand River between Asbury Park and Evergreen, Grandmont Rosedale’s main commercial strip. Improvements will include planting about 180 trees, five new landscaped boulevard islands and six decorative crosswalks made of stamped and colored concrete.
“These additional enhancements, along with the new light poles we got from Detroit Public Lighting and MDOT’s repaving of Grand River, are going to create a whole new look for our commercial district – much more pedestrian friendly and much more attractive,” says Tom Goddeeris, executive director of the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp.
The community development group is also using money from a Michigan State Housing Development Authority grant to install black cast aluminum neighborhood identification signs along Grand River. The first nine signs were installed in December, and five more will be up by the end of February
The Parsons Transportation Group, an affiliate of Parsons Brinkerhoff, which drafted the traffic control plan for the Super Bowl, has been chosen as the design engineers for the Grand River streetscaping portion of the project.
The seven-lane thoroughfare carries high volumes of traffic both within the city and between Detroit and its northwestern suburbs. By adding landscaped traffic islands, Grand River will become more pedestrian-friendly, helping to reconnect both sides of the strip. The road also will serve as an attractive gateway to Detroit from the northwest.
Construction is scheduled for 2007.
Sources: Tom Goddeeris, executive director of GRDC; Pam Weinstein, special projects manager for GRDC
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