Street improvements will expand next year for cars and pedestrians

Thanks to federal and state grants, major improvements will be coming to Caniff and Jos. Campau starting next year. Jos. Campau will also have a bike lane installed to hook up with a regional bike path.

 

By Charles Sercombe
Holbrook isn’t the only major street in Hamtramck slated for an upgrade.
City officials have federal and state grants to repave a portion of Caniff and create bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly improvements for Jos. Campau.
Here’s a preview of what’s to come:
The Jos. Campau project will create bike lanes and make pedestrian-friendly changes to the Jos. Campau-Caniff intersection thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation. The city also has to kick in over $100,000, which will be taken from its annual state-funded street repair fund.
Work will begin in 2019, and the bike route will hook up with another bike lane that will go all the way to Dearborn. City officials have been kicking around the idea of creating bike lanes in the city for the past 15 years.
In a note to the city council, the grant’s purpose was explained:
“When fully complete, the Joe Louis Greenway Pathway will provide a looped bicycle facility through the Cities of Hamtramck, Detroit, Highland Park and Dearborn. In addition, this route is also included in the Master Plan of the Iron Belle Trail Way which extends across the entire State of Michigan.
“MDOT has approved the grant application submitted earlier this year to provide for bicycle and pedestrian improvements within the 2019 construction season. Our city Master Plan calls for this improvement to Jos. Campau. Additionally, this bike lane construction will add to the friendliness of our community for non-motorized residents and visitors.”
The repaving project begins with an engineering study that will last through the remainder of this year and part of next year.
The repaving of Caniff from I-75 to Jos. Campau will start in 2020, and it is being funded by the federal government to the tune of $1.5 million, out of which the city has to contribute $300,000 from its annual state road repair fund.
The council agreed to also spend $90,000 for an engineering study.

Oct. 19, 2018

One Response to Street improvements will expand next year for cars and pedestrians

  1. Ken Hissong

    October 24, 2018 at 10:01 am

    Get ready for major disruptions if the next phase of work is anything like what is going on along Holbrook. No parking. No deliveries. Dust like being in a desert so bad that people couldn’t open their windows to get fresh air! I know, I know. “But it will be great when it’s finished.” But why does the treatment have to worse than the cure?

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