KENT COUNTY -
There's a lot of debate about replacing an old bridge across the Grand River.
It's not that people don't want the project, it's how the state plans to do it. They want to completely shut it down with a lengthy detour.
It's the bridge on M-21 across the Grand River in Ada Township. It's basically the main drag between Lowell and Grand Rapids. It's also a national truck route.
More than 23,000 drivers pass across it everyday. But it's crumbling away at more than fifty years old.
MDOT wants to shut it down completely for six months in the Spring of 2011 to rebuilt it.
But during a township meeting Monday night, a lot of store owners and homeowners said they don't want it.
So many people wanted to voice their opinion that Ada Township leaders moved the meeting to a church down the road to handle the crowd.
"I think business is going to really suffer and it's not the time to let businesses suffer," said local business owner and resident Marlene Kenneway.
"Just think about the bus traffic, school busses having to travel, the emergency trucks like the fire trucks, it'll be a big inconvenience and take you an extra twenty minutes," said local resident Ted Wright.
But MDOT says, the project's already over budget at ten million dollars. Keeping part of the bridge open during construction or creating a temporary bridge, they say, could sink the idea.
"That can increase costs based on our ten million dollar estimate as much as thirty to fifty percent of that value," said Art Green.
State officials also say that creating a temporary bridge will take the project a lot longer to finish, possibly two years longer. Along with possibly backing up water with some many structures in the river bed at one time.
The state also wants to act quickly to move the project forward because they could lose federal matching funds to replace the structure.
MDOT's hoping to work together with Ada Township on solution. We'll let you know what happens.
It's not that people don't want the project, it's how the state plans to do it. They want to completely shut it down with a lengthy detour.
It's the bridge on M-21 across the Grand River in Ada Township. It's basically the main drag between Lowell and Grand Rapids. It's also a national truck route.
More than 23,000 drivers pass across it everyday. But it's crumbling away at more than fifty years old.
MDOT wants to shut it down completely for six months in the Spring of 2011 to rebuilt it.
But during a township meeting Monday night, a lot of store owners and homeowners said they don't want it.
So many people wanted to voice their opinion that Ada Township leaders moved the meeting to a church down the road to handle the crowd.
"I think business is going to really suffer and it's not the time to let businesses suffer," said local business owner and resident Marlene Kenneway.
"Just think about the bus traffic, school busses having to travel, the emergency trucks like the fire trucks, it'll be a big inconvenience and take you an extra twenty minutes," said local resident Ted Wright.
But MDOT says, the project's already over budget at ten million dollars. Keeping part of the bridge open during construction or creating a temporary bridge, they say, could sink the idea.
"That can increase costs based on our ten million dollar estimate as much as thirty to fifty percent of that value," said Art Green.
State officials also say that creating a temporary bridge will take the project a lot longer to finish, possibly two years longer. Along with possibly backing up water with some many structures in the river bed at one time.
The state also wants to act quickly to move the project forward because they could lose federal matching funds to replace the structure.
MDOT's hoping to work together with Ada Township on solution. We'll let you know what happens.
