Raildude's dad

Don't hold back, tell us what you really think

Storage locker area for tenants?

My daughter works for a multi-national architectural engineering firm. Even though she works in the Grand Rapids, when she works with offices in other states, those employees think that the conditions in Grand Rapids are the same as Detroit.

JMHO if it had been any other developer, Meijer would not have gotten involved. They don't want the Meijer name on it and set a precedent for small neighborhood Meijer stores. Did I spell Meijer right?

I wish them well but they have their work cut out for them. I belong to a professional group that has monthly meetings in the banquet facility many years. Food, service, and pricing was good during the Sullivan years. Since then there was a decline in both food and service. There has been 4 F&B managers in the last year. The last meeting was awful. Couldn't contact the F&B manager before the event, they raised the rates in spite of our contract, and the food was either burned or partially cooked. I was tasked with conveying our unhappiness with the event. No response. Our group is moving to another facility that is working very nicely with us to acquire our business:) Other than the purple accent on the outside, they have done a beautiful job redoing the place. The lobby is very nice.

Pranam Inc - Suresh Patel is still listed as the owner in the county records.

l developer / owner was the Land family. It was the Lands Inn. Looks like they sold it a number of years ago to Pranam Inc - Suresh Patel.

Those "ponds" on both sides of the freeway from Grandville to Market street are old gravel pits. The underlying material is gravel, very "porous" that lets the ground water flow back and forth plus there are culverts under the freeway. Next spring notice the water elevation in the ponds follows the river elevation. As for no wake zones, they are in place where there's a number boats tied up at docks or where the banks are eroding. There are a number of non no-wake zones. I've boated up to the Bass River area and have not seen any logs or dead heads in the summer.

I think the Right Place's goal is to find businesses that fit wherever the best location is. Finding the right size square hole for the square peg. I think they have done a good job. I'm sure they present downtown as a possibility but if the company has no interest for real or perceived reasons, they find a location the company desires.

All those Highway/industrial runoff ponds from Market St along I-196 and even the "Lakes" in Jension are mined out gravel pits. There was a lot of gravel mined in that area over the last century.

I drove down Michigan St hill yesterday. I noticed the pavement is deteriorated at the joints just like the west end of M-6:(. The drivers would have been more vocal if they were driving the Hill at 70 LOL

This strike anyone as moving a bit fast? A remodel goes bad the second week in February and they are putting in new foundations the 3rd full week in March. Can one design a building and get a building permit that quick?

The 125% for a principal residence is also in the Federal Highway Administration regulations for purchasing property for a federal funded highway project. That may be where the idea came from for the constitution amendment.

You beat me to it. I picked up my sister from the airport Wednesday. I left my house on the west side at 5:30 and was at the terminal at 5:50. My sister flew in from LA. We both laughed at the GR "rush minutes". Folks here have no idea what rush hour traffic is. Building a tunnel where the line is drawn isn't so easy - peasy. Next time at the airport look north of the terminal / ramp. That taxiway is quite a ways below the road around the ramp. The tunnel roadway would be 25 feet or so below the taxiway. This tunnel will be an engineering challenge.

First: I didn't say anything about cost. Highway tunnels under runways are not unique, but they also are not cheap. Second: Traffic engineers do not design tunnels. Geotechnical and structural engineers do most of the engineering. Widening a tunnel is not like widening a road. Increasing the length of the roof (width) will require a stronger / thicker roof, with more steel reinforcement. You will end up digging up the tunnel and pretty much start from scratch. The existing tunnel most likely doesn't meet the standards for a one way public highway tunnel. Then there is the life safety issue. There needs to be provisions for providing ventilation from fumes and safe exit for people in the event of a fire in the tunnel. The standards are much less for tunnels not open to the public. The existing tunnel is approximately 1560 feet long for information