By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Phase I of the $600,000 Turner Gateway beautification project will begin soon with the construction of two rain gardens under the US-131 overpass at Turner and Fourth Streets and completion of a mural on the underpass piers.
Phase II will extend the project north along Turner to Leonard Street. The plan is to create five 400-square-foot gardens on the US-131 embankments at strategic intersections—Sixth, Tenth, Eleventh, the US-131 ramp between Leonard and Eleventh, and Leonard Street.
A pedestrian-friendly plaza near the Tenth Street underpass will feature benches, planters, special paving, and ornamental lighting. Curb bulb-outs at several intersections will calm traffic, new pedestrian crossings will improve safety, and flower planters will add visual appeal.
"[The project] really puts the west side on the map," said Andrea Bardelmeier, Turner Gateway project manager for the West Grand Neighborhood Organization (WGNO). "It draws attention to a different entryway to downtown and invites people to shop on the west side.
"This is a crucial gateway to the whole neighborhood, and we hope to expand the effort and our focus to the rest of the neighborhood," Bardelmeier added.
In 2006 alone, the Turner Gateway zone attracted more than $2 million of private investment in the business districts and in residential facade improvements, Bardelmeier said.
A proposed design will be presented for neighborhood feedback at a meeting later this year, with final plans and ground breaking dates determined after that.
The project is funded with a $432,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation, a portion of a $100,000 Cool Cities grant, and private donations totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A capital campaign must raise an additional $160,000 to reach its $601,000 goal. Bardelmeier hopes to raise some of this through corporate sponsorships of the native gardens.
Source: Andrea Bardelmeier, West Grand Neighborhood Organization
www.wgno.org
Deborah Johnson Wood is the Development News Editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be reached at [email protected].
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