GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two dozen people from the Creston neighborhood lined the pews of the Providence Reformed Church on Tuesday night as officials from the City of Grand Rapids outlined a plan to reconstruct Ann Street between Plainfield and Monroe avenues in 2025.
Under the plan, the city will install curb extensions at intersections, install raised bicycle lanes on both sides of the street, remove on-street parking from the north side of the street, plant new street trees, and replace all driveway approaches.
Some of the big goals of the project are to upgrade the crumbling road surface and to slow down traffic, which people living on Ann Street say is desperately needed.
"Nobody ever drove 25 down Ann Street. You get going down that hill and everybody drives 40 or 45 miles per hour and they don't slow down. It's become a personal intersection between Plainfield and the highway," Sean Gerken told 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
"I have a young daughter who could definitely be hit by people driving way too fast down the road, and it's just unsafe. It truly is."
What people don't agree on, though, is what methods should be taken to slow traffic. Many people at Tuesday night's meeting took exception with the idea of eliminating parking on the north side of the street. There were also many different opinions on how bicycle lanes should look and whether the elevated model the city is planning is the best way to do it.
There is still time to for people to give their opinions before the next stage of planning begins. The city has put out a survey to collect feedback.