TRAVERSE CITY -- Whether it's a tunnel, more defined crosswalks or other design changes, bayfront planning group members agree their top priority is making the trip to the beach across Grandview Parkway safer for pedestrians.
It's a busy -- and often dangerous -- street that separates downtown from the city's marina, volleyball courts and beaches on West Grand Traverse Bay.
Just this month a Traverse City man died after being hit by a vehicle as he crossed the road near Oak Street.
"We heard a lot from the citizens, from people that either attended meetings or got ahold of us and said, 'Gee, it's very hard to get across there,' and we've seen very recently the tragedies," said T. Michael Jackson, chair of the bayfront planning committee.
Pedestrian enhancements are among dozens of ideas for the waterfront in the "Your Bay, Your Say" process that began about three years ago.
They include a public pier, fish cleaning station, amphitheater, rental and concession stands, and restoring the Boardman River to a more natural state.
But road crossings easily topped the list.
"If you can't cross in numbers safely, it doesn't make much difference what we do on the other side," said Bob Stow, member of the bayfront committee and planning commission.
There's been interest in building a tunnel to the Open Space from just west of a proposed hotel on Grandview Parkway.
Hotel plans call for underground parking, so it might make sense to start digging the tunnel during the hotel's excavation, said city Planner Russ Soyring.
Hotel developers said they'd be open to coordinating with the city, and local officials with the Michigan Department of Transportation also expressed interest, Soyring said.
The city also hopes for help planning a public pier.
University of Michigan graduate students plan to study the environmental impacts of a possible pier at the mouth of the Boardman River. That research would help the city in planning and grant applications if the project goes through, Soyring said.
Funding for waterfront improvements could come from tax increment financing and grants.
The bayfront group, a subcommittee of the planning commission, will recommend that it disband next month since it accomplished its goals of developing a plan and prioritizing projects.
Print this story
E-mail this story
