GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A diesel tanker spilled on US-131 just south of the S-Curve in Grand Rapids Saturday morning.
The crash shut down a portion of the highway near the Wealthy Street off-ramp.
The safety of this interchange has been a concern for many drivers. Three years ago, community leaders started the discussion of what to do about it. Since then, not much has changed.
“We'll really go out of our way to avoid it,” Bruce Buursma said.
It's a concerning intersection for some drivers.
“It’s a short ramp, and so it backs up quickly,” Buursma said. “I can usually easily avoid it. It's a little trickier now because of the Market Street construction. So sometimes we find ourselves using the Wealthy Street ramp, although not much.”
Greg Warren often travels this spot for work. He drives a semi-truck and knows it’s not easy to navigate, especially with 18 wheels.
“It’s just like, oh, man, this is a lot of anxiety, but I make it work. So it's a little tight,” Warren added.
Three years ago, Grand Rapids and the state discussed revamping this area after receiving a $10 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
I’ve learned that these two are expected to accept a plan on Tuesday on how to use that money:
- $4 million to the National Environmental Policy Act
- $3 million to Design
- $3 million public utility infrastructure
I asked MDOT why this process is taking so long.
“Our annual budget for everything in one year is about $100 million, and to rebuild this whole stretch is going to cost around $600-$700 million,” MDOT Grand Region Communications Representative John Richards said.
Richards adds even if they had the money now it would still take years before work starts.
"Just because of the environmental regulations and processes that you have to go through," Richards said.
As we wait for a substantial amount of money, people like Bruce, Greg, and anyone else who uses this exit will wait as well.
“I think the Wealthy Street ramp would be a richer experience. If they extended that ramp a little bit, made it a little smoother, maybe widened it out some just to make those turns a little more understandable,” Buursma said.
In 2020, Michigan Auto Law listed US-131 at Wealthy Street as the most dangerous intersection in Kent County, with a total of 114 crashes and 23 injuries.
