Copyright M Live Michigan
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI — A Metro bus full of Kalamazoo-area officials was the first vehicle to traverse a new U.S. 131 route on Friday, Nov. 7. It’s a $19 million project that took nearly 25 years to come to fruition, State Sen. Sean McCann said at a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday morning. Cones on the new business route interchange north of downtown Kalamazoo were picked up Friday afternoon, opening the route after eight months of construction. The business route expansion provides a connection to U.S. 131 that didn’t exist before. Previously, traffic could only go north or come in from the north on U.S. 131 via the business route. The map, below, shows the new routes in orange and the previously existing routes in gray. Two ramps were added to the interchange -- a paved ramp to the south and a 334-foot-long bridge that will carry traffic from the business route to southbound U.S. 131. “This project represents long delayed justice and relief to the residential areas overburdened by industrial truck traffic and their related effects,” McCann said, “particularly in the Northside.” In the ’90s, retired NACD Executive Director Mattie Jordan-Woods fought an expansion plan that would have routed the highway through the Northside neighborhood. Without a connection to I-94 or southbound U.S. 131, large trucks were forced to drive through Kalamazoo city streets. This put extra wear and tear on the pavement, Jordan-Woods said. It also rattled homes, leading to cracked foundations that cost homeowners. “I’m ecstatic that they found a way to still serve the businesses without running over the residents,” she said. The expansion is also expected to spur economic development in Kalamazoo, McCann said. The interchange expansion will increase access to and from downtown Kalamazoo, per MDOT, and decrease the volume of traffic on West Main Street and Stadium Drive. “Whether it’s events or it’s a product that you’re shipping in and out ... being able to get out through 131 and then eventually I-94 directly into the city of Kalamazoo is going to create all kinds of opportunities,” said Curt Aardema, Metro Transit board chair. Downtown Kalamazoo’s narrow, 100-year-old streets weren’t designed to accommodate large cars and trucks, Aardema said. Reducing commercial traffic on city streets will create a more walkable, welcoming environment for Kalamazoo businesses and visitors, Aardema said. For commuters, residents and tourists headed to downtown to the new event center, the route will mitigate congestion. “We all want events to happen, we all want people,” Aardema said. “At the same time, none of us want traffic.”
