- The Michigan Avenue rehabilitation project, which includes road reconstruction and reconfiguration, sidewalk replacement, traffic signal modernization, and upgrades to utilities, began in March of 2024
- Since then, 3 of the 6 phases have been completed and the construction was put on pause during the winter months
- Starting March 24th, construction on Michigan Avenue is scheduled to resume until the fall
- In the attached story, I spoke with Lansing's public service director Andy Kilpatrick about what drivers should expect and I also spoke with a Michigan Avenue business owner, Dr. Deborah Smith, about the impacts this construction could have
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Just a few months ago I stood on this very street to report that the construction on Michigan Avenue had been paused, but starting next week the orange cones are making a return.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here with what Lansing neighbors can expect in the coming months.
"I don't know if it's nervous. Are we apprehensive? Yes." said Dr. Deborah Smith, Wellness inX co- owner.
Deborah Smith chose Michigan Avenue as the home for her business, Wellness inX, for many reasons but the road conditions were not one of them.
"I want that street repaired, I want our sidewalk to be more presentable to the public, I want people to look at our capital city as a wonder place to be. It hasn't looked that way," Smith said.
Smith's wish came true last year when the city of Lansing began a Michigan Avenue rehabilitation project that city officials say was well overdue.
"It's been studied over and over, it's been falling apart for a while and we finally were able to get funding put together to completely reconstruct Michigan Avenue." said Andy Kilpatrick, Lansing public service director.
About half of the $14 million cost is coming from federal funds that will help renovate the stretch from Lansing city limits all the way to Pennsylvania Avenue.
The first 3 phases of the project are complete.
"I'll tell you what we are prepared, we lived through this last year," Smith said.
But next week is the beginning of the final construction stretch that is expected to last until the fall.
"A couple of tips, one is you're going north and south not through the construction work zone you can still get through those north/south streets. Please patronize the businesses, they are affected by this so even if they're in the open section that we're not doing construction they probably will have a little less business traffic and we want to make sure those businesses continue to thrive," Kilpatrick said.
A message that businesses like Wellness inX hope gets through to neighbors.
"I think this is going to be a breath of fresh air with some trauma in between," Smith said.
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