ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — Saugatuck Township, according to Daniel DeFranco, township manager, has been a bustling community in the years after COVID-19.
"We've also seen a huge increase in residents that live here full time, meaning that there's more cars on the road," said DeFranco. "There's more congestion, longer periods of time."
The Township is working to reimagine Blue Star Highway from I-196, to Bradley Road, about a 3-mile stretch.
"We definitely have an eye to designing and constructing either sidewalks or a combination of sidewalk by trail on the east side of the road," said DeFranco. "Blue Star was originally designed as a rural highway. So it's artificially elevated and part of this project is bringing down the road about three and a half feet."
Right now, the township is hoping that the Safe Street Planning Committee, which is made up of neighbors from the Saugatuck Township, will be able to help improve the connectivity of Blue Star Highway that wasn't built for the busy community that exists now.
And they're looking for help from the public to tell them how Blue Star should look.
"We want to make sure that we're listening to them, and we're responding to their needs," said DeFranco. "And so any kind of infrastructure improvements we're making are really meeting the needs of the community."
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