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Transit Updates for Greater Grand Rapids

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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John E Burg

John E

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They are stubborn but are smart enough to accept the peoples/voters wishes. I don't think they will try to get a city to vote out of the Rapid again.

They do have their eyes set on attacking the Rapid, but I don't know what their next move will be. I can't think of an option that they have left.

I agree with them that the Rapid needs to be more accountable and open to the public, but I do not agree with the steps they are taking against the Rapid.

I think the Friends of the Rapid did a great job with informing the voters on the truth and reality of the Rapids service in and for the city of Walker.

The Rapid is over luxurious but I enjoy the luxury and think that it is worth the money. I know the improvements that the Rapid has made since taking over from GRATA have helped, improved the lives of many in the participating communities. The more the Rapid becomes "usable" the more people use it.

With the overwhelming support received in the election, I'm sure the Rapid will go forward with their plans for going with a county wide bus service. Being a Liberty Movement person and not a TeaPublican, I hope they are successful in getting to that goal.

I would like to see the Rapid go with board members that are directly elected by the people.

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WMrapids
WMrapids

All this talk about rail made me find these from the library

GR_Urbanist
GR_Urbanist

Fancy new Laker Line stop at the zoo!

BLUESCRUBS
BLUESCRUBS

Proposal to establish regional bus line gets support from Grand Rapids metro group. https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/08/proposal-to-establish-regional-bus-line-gets-support-from-grand

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  • 3 weeks later...
Veloise City

Veloise

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Thanks to Veloise for pointing me in the right direction. 132 pages of posts? Eek. See you in a week.

Hey, for several years this was the hottest place for GR development. We'd scoop Chris Knape. Best thing is the archives, which FB doesn't have.

Please share your transit map on here, contrast & compare.

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BusRidingDaddy Crossroads

BusRidingDaddy

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Well, there's no way I'm going to read all 132 pages from 6 years right now, maybe I'll take it in instalments.

Here's the transit map Veloise alluded to. For the first three and a half years of living in Grand Rapids I lived in Belknap Lookout. I would often think a local train serving a stop on Lafayette at the corner of Bradford would be a great addition to the area, and then I saw that tied in with what the Area Specific Plan was trying to put together. So I set about looking on Google Maps aerial views and also went out looking at some stretches of rail, and put together a plan for a three-line "metro". It uses existing tracks or places where tracks could be relaid, and I recently adjusted it to take into consideration the new location of the Amtrak station.

The initial plan had lines from Coopersville to Ada, Sparta to Byron Township, and Hudsonville to Cascade Township. I then reduced it to stay within the boundaries of the six cities of the ITP.

My map is based on the style of Harry Beck, something I grew up with as a Londoner. I chose the Corbel font as a very "transit" looking font. My initial lines were red, blue and green; but I changed the green one to yellow to match the GR city colours.

I added the Silver Line to the map, and also some of the more important Rapid bus connections. I feel bad leaving my 6 off the map completely, but it doesn't cross the lines at all, except at Central Station where everything meets anyway.

GREATlarge.png

FYI: I haven't worked a day in planning, cartography, local authorities or transit agencies in my life. This wasn't even done using vector graphics, so it's a little crude. But I think it gets the point across: That GR would benefit greatly from another form of mass transit to coexist with our already excellent and blossoming bus service.

Edited by BusRidingDaddy
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BusRidingDaddy Crossroads

BusRidingDaddy

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My next addition to the map will be the addition of P&R facilities. One example location would be the East Beltline stop, conveniently located right off I-96 and M-44/37.

I am planning a full website dedicated to this "project", including detailing locations of stations, impact on surrounding businesses, residences, facilities, etc., sample timetables, etc.

Once that site is basically in place, I will post a link here for everyone.

The site will be a subdomain of the rapidriders.net site I run, where I am currently just posting occasional blogs about using the bus in GR.
 

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mhelm Unincorporated Area

mhelm

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From the GR Press re: grants the city is trying to get for transportation:

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/11/4_economic_development_project.html

 

What really caught my eye was the interest in using the railroad that runs from Plainfield/Leonard to the E. Beltline as a possible transit corridor. This seems to be a great idea to relieve pressure from Michigan Street as they run parallel for much of the way. Anyone know the feasability of this or whether the railway is still in use?



My next addition to the map will be the addition of P&R facilities. One example location would be the East Beltline stop, conveniently located right off I-96 and M-44/37.

I am planning a full website dedicated to this "project", including detailing locations of stations, impact on surrounding businesses, residences, facilities, etc., sample timetables, etc.

Once that site is basically in place, I will post a link here for everyone.

The site will be a subdomain of the rapidriders.net site I run, where I am currently just posting occasional blogs about using the bus in GR.
 

 

Hey BusRidingDaddy,

 

Interesting site you have there. Any thoughts of expanding it into a real Transit Riders Union like they have elsewhere around the country - like a 'Friends of Transit' on steroids?

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organsnyder Hamlet

organsnyder

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What really caught my eye was the interest in using the railroad that runs from Plainfield/Leonard to the E. Beltline as a possible transit corridor. This seems to be a great idea to relieve pressure from Michigan Street as they run parallel for much of the way. Anyone know the feasability of this or whether the railway is still in use?

I remember reading somewhere that the line is being considered as a potential rail-trail. That may have been on a trail advocate's wish-list rather than an official proposal, though.

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wingbert Burg

wingbert

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From the GR Press re: grants the city is trying to get for transportation:

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/11/4_economic_development_project.html

 

What really caught my eye was the interest in using the railroad that runs from Plainfield/Leonard to the E. Beltline as a possible transit corridor. This seems to be a great idea to relieve pressure from Michigan Street as they run parallel for much of the way. Anyone know the feasability of this or whether the railway is still in use?

 

I like the idea of light rail, etc. on that corridor connecting Plainfield/Leonard to the E. Beltline.  This quote, "We know we can’t build (Michigan Street) any wider, so how do we change people’s behavior?”  Well, another reason Michigan gets so much traffic is that there is no way off 196 between Fuller and the E. Beltline.  For such an urban area, this is a long stretch.  People choose Michigan because of the localized access instead.  I guess there's two ways to look at that dilemna - Either 196 is a limited access funnel to shoot people out to the Eastern suburbs (which adds to additional local traffic on Michigan street), or an exit should be added at Plymouth (or I suppose Maryland) in order to relieve traffic on Michigan and get it out on the highway.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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If time allows for me to develop it and there is enough support, yes I would like for it to be more than just me saying my thing.

 

Rizzo, RaildudesDad and I put together a similar visionary plan, and honed in on the 131 corridor from Comstock Park to 54th St as the most logical. We even contacted a train company and were working on getting a demo brought to Grand Rapids. Ran out of steam. That was probably in 07, way back in this thread.

 

Thanks for joining us. I also participate on the Salon page.

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Raildudes dad Hamlet

Raildudes dad

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Posted (edited)

Rizzo, RaildudesDad and I put together a similar visionary plan, and honed in on the 131 corridor from Comstock Park to 54th St as the most logical. We even contacted a train company and were working on getting a demo brought to Grand Rapids. Ran out of steam. That was probably in 07, way back in this thread.

 

Thanks for joining us. I also participate on the Salon page.

 

GRDadof3:  You beat me to posting :)  I still have the draft waiting for the hard numbers for rail service to be plugged in for our Sparta to GVSU demo line.

 

 

What really caught my eye was the interest in using the railroad that runs from Plainfield/Leonard to the E. Beltline as a possible transit corridor. This seems to be a great idea to relieve pressure from Michigan Street as they run parallel for much of the way. Anyone know the feasability of this or whether the railway is still in use?

 

The current owner, RailAmerica is opposed to any shared use of the ROW. The RR, the GRE has 2 customers, Amway in Ada and King Milling in Lowell. They run as needed, 2 -3 times a week.

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  • 3 months later...
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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If you start to see construction next week near Fulton and Ransom (or Southview and Division or 60th and Division), now you'll know why:

 

http://rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/SilverLine03282013.aspx

 

Complete with interactive map:

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208200133670711035030.0004d8851c93ad0571221&msa=0&ll=42.861999,-85.660572&spn=0.017773,0.038581&iwloc=0004d88528c889d7f6b72

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fotoman311 Burg

fotoman311

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If you start to see construction next week near Fulton and Ransom (or Southview and Division or 60th and Division), now you'll know why:

 

http://rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/SilverLine03282013.aspx

 

Complete with interactive map:

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208200133670711035030.0004d8851c93ad0571221&msa=0&ll=42.861999,-85.660572&spn=0.017773,0.038581&iwloc=0004d88528c889d7f6b72

 

The right lane is already closed for the Kendall building construction.  It's a good thing there is a handy street grid so I can easily choose an alternative route for my commute.

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