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1. What is the Main Avenue Project?

The Main Avenue project consists of a comprehensive refresh of the downtown district from State Street to east of Maple including new sidewalks, landscaping, light poles and bollards, irrigation, and asphalt paving.  In addition to refreshing the existing infrastructure, we will be expanding the theme of our downtown district into the block from Centennial to Maple which will introduce angled parking on the northside of Main Avenue and a mid-block crossing.  While this in itself is transformational, as part of the project the sidewalks, crosswalks, and mid-block crossings will all be reconstructed with snowmelt throughout the expanded district.

2. Why are we doing the project?

First, as described this is not strictly a snowmelt project.  While snowmelt is a component of the Main Avenue Project, it is a portion of a much larger project.  Our current sidewalks, planters, light poles, and driving surfaces are roughly 20 years old, and while they are well maintained, most of them are reaching the end of their useful lives.  The road surface needs to be replaced, trip hazards throughout the district continue to emerge, and other aspects are just getting tired.  

 

In addition to the need to update some of the facilities, we are experiencing unprecedented growth in our downtown district, especially east of our traditional downtown.  This growth has led us to evaluate what our greater downtown district looks like and what it would look like to create four blocks of downtown with a consistent feel and theme. This project will assist in accomplishing this theme.  

 

Finally, we have decided to add snowmelt to the project after numerous years of thoughtful decision making. Snowmelt will be a complimentary feature to attract and retain current and future development.   

3. What are the Priorities of the project?

The Main Avenue redesign/refresh project is moving along nicely and will continue into 2024 with the primary blocks of construction being Church to Elm and Elm to State.  As the project has started to take shape (physically) and will continue to progress to the west in 2024, we thought it would be good to remind our citizens of our priorities around this project from a street design standpoint (in addition to sidewalk snowmelt), based on a planning study we commissioned in 2022.

 

• Narrowing the street with bump-outs is purposefully done to reduce the speed of traffic along Main Avenue through downtown Zeeland.  Narrowing streets with “side friction” (bump-outs) is a proven method to reduce traffic speeds.  For example, our existing block from Elm to Church.  
• At various intersections and the introduction of some new “mid-block” crossings by Cityside Middle School and the Zeeland Historical Society, the added bump-outs not only help with reducing traffic speeds, they create a safer pedestrian crossing by narrowing the distance pedestrians need to cross a roadway.  These safe pedestrian crossings are important at all times of the day for the general public, but they have an even heightened importance when adjacent to a school.  In these new locations, a pedestrian no longer has to cross the added width of the street created by parking lanes.
• Although the new bump-outs create a reduced street width, they are as wide as the existing mid-block crossing between Elm and Church.  Engineering models show that two school busses can safely pass each other if they were to pass through the bump-out at the same time.  Additionally, the existing mid-block crossing has worked for many years in Downtown Zeeland.
• An added benefit of bump-outs is they do help define the designated parking lanes.  This was specifically needed for the introduction of angled parking on the north side of Main between Centennial and Maple as we extend our downtown to the east.

 

We thank you for your ongoing patience during this exciting construction project.  We understand that road construction is messy and can be frustrating at times.  We hope however, that you will join us with excitement on what these improvements will do to further support the growth of downtown and create safer areas for vehicles and pedestrians.  

 

4. What will the project cost?

The budget for the project is $10.2 Million.

 

5. What is the project's timeline?

The project is expected to begin in June of 2023 and extend through the 2024 construction season with the intention that the work east of Church will be completed in 2023 and the remainder of the project will be completed in 2024.  Depending on the severity of the winter construction activities will take a break during the winter. 

 

6. Where is the funding coming from?

Generally speaking, the funds for this project have come in the form of unbudgeted Personal Property Tax Reimbursement payments from the State of Michigan.  Since 2018, the City has received more than $6.5 Million from this unbudgeted revenue source.  The remaining funds have come from either an unbudgeted surplus in the General Fund or in the case of Fiscal Year 2024 a budgeted transfer from the General Fund.

7. Why are we starting the project east of Church Street?

While it may seem more desirable to reconstruct the central block of the downtown district first, we have chosen to do the easterly block for several reasons including:

• Cityside Middle School will be closed to the public during the summer of 2023 which means less traffic in the vicinity of the project.
• Coordination with the work at the Sligh Building including watermain, storm sewer and sidewalks.
• Fewer impacted property owners which allows us to gain efficiencies in year one prior to disturbing the central block in the second year of the project.

8. What will access look like to the downtown district throughout the project?

Except for an 8-week closure of Main from Centennial to Maple during the summer of 2023, at least one lane of traffic will be maintained throughout the entire project.

9. What will access to individual properties look like throughout the project?

We are planning a phased approach to construction and are expecting block-by-block phasing to minimize disruption.   We do realize though that some overlap between blocks will occur throughout the project in order to minimize the total disruption time to the Downtown.  Parking spaces adjacent to the construction activities will be blocked off to facilitate contractor construction activities.  Front door or partial driveway access will be available throughout the course of the project when feasible but realize there may be times when front door access will not be available (i.e., during snowmelt tubing installation and during the pouring of concrete).  During periods between sidewalk removal and reinstallation and there is no concrete surface, access may be by temporary gravel, plywood walkways, or through other means.  Downtown patrons and property owners are encouraged to use rear entrances throughout the duration of the project.

10. How do I ask specific questions regarding the project?

Please email mainaveproject@cityofzeeland.com to ask any questions you may have regarding the project.