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Highway and Road Construction Updates


GRDadof3

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59 minutes ago, walker said:

Not that anyone was arguing with me but I thought that I'd post this article from today's Detroit News that reinforces what I wrote about where the push is coming from for electric vehicles at the same time their actual sales in the U.S. are unfortunately falling.  The News also mentions Europe and California, along with China.

DETROIT NEWS: why-automakers-betting-so-big-electric-vehicles

I just got back from California last week.  It was fun walking the warm beaches along the Pacific at Mission Beach in San Diego.  While channel surfing the TV in the hotel, I noticed most of the car ads were for electrics.  Can't say I've noticed that around here but then I don't watch TV when I'm home, dropped cable a long time ago. 

You’ve probably never noticed because Michigan ranks somewhere between 45-50th state by percentage of EV adoption 

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On 5/4/2019 at 11:12 AM, GR8scott said:

You’ve probably never noticed because Michigan ranks somewhere between 45-50th state by percentage of EV adoption 

Hopefully that changes when they start coming out with electric SUVs and trucks. That, more than anything, is what holds Michigan people back from buying electric when they live in a state that’s snow-filled half the year. Also, the price at this point is prohibitive when the average household income in Michigan is $54,000. The more EVs that start getting rolled out, the more we’ll see those prices fall in line with fossil fuel vehicles.

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8 hours ago, GR8scott said:

cringe at the blown opportunity to actually do something “Grand” on 196 bridge of the “Grand” river in “Grand” Rapids 

couldn't agree more.  and also the 196/131 interchange.  It's horrendous 

Edited by jthrasher
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12 hours ago, GRLaker said:

Hopefully that changes when they start coming out with electric SUVs and trucks. That, more than anything, is what holds Michigan people back from buying electric when they live in a state that’s snow-filled half the year. Also, the price at this point is prohibitive when the average household income in Michigan is $54,000. The more EVs that start getting rolled out, the more we’ll see those prices fall in line with fossil fuel vehicles.

Additionally, I think half the EV sales right now are all in Tesla, and laws in Michigan no thanks to automaker lobbyists have made it very difficult to purchase Teslas in Michigan.

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Detroit is the motor city, people are big into horsepower around here.  Electric vehicles can be just as fast, but I was listening to the Formula E cars and it's a little hard to get used to lol.   

There's always going to be those anti-electric, lets roll some coal, screw you hippies and your environment kind of people as well.

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12 hours ago, Floyd_Z said:

Detroit is the motor city, people are big into horsepower around here.  Electric vehicles can be just as fast, but I was listening to the Formula E cars and it's a little hard to get used to lol.   

There's always going to be those anti-electric, lets roll some coal, screw you hippies and your environment kind of people as well.

 

My guess is the breakdown in the market is roughly this:

10% are old-fashioned motorheads or "own the libs" anti-environmentalists (two distinct categories—don't be offended if you belong to one but abhor the other).
10% are passionate environmentalists. They either already own an EV or dream of purchasing one (after their Prius dies).
80% are people that just want to commute to work, shuttle their kids around, and run errands.

Even in Michigan, I think [PH]EVs are already creeping into the 80% segment; and they'll barnstorm in during the next extended gas price spike. The prospect of refueling using price-regulated electricity is alluring, and the math is covering more use-cases every year.

My PHEV has both sound preferences covered: nearly silent in EV mode (I'm tempted to disable the pedestrian warning speaker, but I understand its purpose), while the gas engine has a really good sound (especially for a minivan) when you open up the throttle.

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  • 4 weeks later...

North Division is now up for closure through July. 

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/06/stretch-of-division-avenue-to-close-for-a-month-in-grand-rapids.html

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids drivers who use a downtown stretch of N. Division Avenue will have to find an alternative route beginning next week.

Construction of a new on-ramp to I-196 will require the closure of the 0.7-mile stretch of Division Avenue -- between Mason Street and Crescent Street -- beginning Monday, June 3.

The road is expected to be closed through July 4.

 

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4 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

North Division is now up for closure through July. 

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/06/stretch-of-division-avenue-to-close-for-a-month-in-grand-rapids.html

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids drivers who use a downtown stretch of N. Division Avenue will have to find an alternative route beginning next week.

Construction of a new on-ramp to I-196 will require the closure of the 0.7-mile stretch of Division Avenue -- between Mason Street and Crescent Street -- beginning Monday, June 3.

The road is expected to be closed through July 4.

 

Which is great, because that was my alternative route to the 196 bridge construction. Construction season is on! :)

I've been watching the work they're doing at Division, north of 196 for the new ramps/exits. I still couldn't get a feel for how it's going to work, but that part of Division going north always seems underutilized (which is great for me at rush hour). Should be interesting to see how it changes traffic patterns.

Joe

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52 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

Which is great, because that was my alternative route to the 196 bridge construction. Construction season is on! :)

I've been watching the work they're doing at Division, north of 196 for the new ramps/exits. I still couldn't get a feel for how it's going to work, but that part of Division going north always seems underutilized (which is great for me at rush hour). Should be interesting to see how it changes traffic patterns.

Joe

Well essentially if you're traveling on North Division, from either the North or South, you won't have to work your way over to Ionia to get on I-196 Westbound. You'll just be able to get on straight from North Division just North of the I-196 overpass. 

Here's a picture, turned so North is at the top.

Those yellow things in the road make it look like traffic is going South but that's not what the situation is. 

North division ramp.jpg

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6 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

North Division is now up for closure through July. 

 

 

This is great news!

So not only do we have the detoured traffic from 196 turning Michigan and Bridge into a parking lot, but we can have all of the traffic from N. Division routed onto Monroe so that they will turn that into one as well! The Michigan/Monroe intersection will be an absolute disaster, especially at 5pm or  when there are events at DeVos Place.

 

But what can you do.

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On 6/1/2019 at 9:01 AM, arcturus said:

I find a certain irony having the potholes begin right under the 'Welcome to Michigan' sign on I-94 entering from Indiana.

MDOT is actually repaving the first couple of miles from the state line toward New Buffalo as I write this.   

Edited by mpchicago
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https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/eb-i-96-at-leonard-st-to-close-for-months/2049594398

"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Attention Grand Rapids drivers — a part of I-96 will be closed for a few months.

Eastbound I-96 will be closed at Leonard Street from June 10 until Oct. 25. The detour will be southbound US-131 to eastbound I-196, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation."

:rofl::w00t::cry:

 

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10 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/eb-i-96-at-leonard-st-to-close-for-months/2049594398

"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Attention Grand Rapids drivers — a part of I-96 will be closed for a few months.

Eastbound I-96 will be closed at Leonard Street from June 10 until Oct. 25. The detour will be southbound US-131 to eastbound I-196, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation."

:rofl::w00t::cry:

 

Wait... is the ramp from sb 131 to eb 196 still closed?  Is this someone’s idea of a joke?

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11 minutes ago, wingbert said:

Wait... is the ramp from sb 131 to eb 196 still closed?  Is this someone’s idea of a joke?

It is currently closed.  According to the article they have 6 days to open it.  Otherwise yes it will be an EPIC MDOT fail.

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Not that this is planned, but to me it seems like it would be beneficial to create a street connecting Division (North Monroe) to Belknap Lookout. I could see it done by extending Fairbanks across Division up the hill, through a set of switchbacks to the dead ended Fairbanks St on Belknap Lookout next to the "Stairs on Division." That type of grade might seem steep, but it's done in mountainous regions all the time and would save the hassle for many who live in either N. Monroe or Belknap Lookout from commuting to either neighborhood.

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1 hour ago, TheSutterKing said:

extending Fairbanks across Division

If even possible, this would push a lot of thru traffic from Michigan through the Belknap area.  I'm going to guess the residents there enjoy the limited amount of thru traffic. 

Certainly the expensive properties on the edge of the hill there would not enjoy this extra traffic.

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1 hour ago, TheSutterKing said:

Not that this is planned, but to me it seems like it would be beneficial to create a street connecting Division (North Monroe) to Belknap Lookout. I could see it done by extending Fairbanks across Division up the hill, through a set of switchbacks to the dead ended Fairbanks St on Belknap Lookout next to the "Stairs on Division." That type of grade might seem steep, but it's done in mountainous regions all the time and would save the hassle for many who live in either N. Monroe or Belknap Lookout from commuting to either neighborhood.

It would have to take the title of curviest street from Lombard in SF. I don't think there would be enough horizontal depth to get from Division up to Fairbanks with the number of switchbacks they would have to install. Maybe they could do something like a car funicular... :)

Besides, I believe the long term plan is to have a board walk that starts down on Division by Lookout Park and winds it's way up to the Hastings/Coit intersection. They have already started part of the path up on Hastings.

image.thumb.png.9615451b07f6ebc7d29d1f91116d2dc9.png

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