Revitalizing REO Town

 

By Belinda Thurston

 

More than 30 people attended a public information meeting to learn about this year’s road and sidewalk construction work along Washington Avenue in the REO Town section of Lansing.

 

“Most of you are familiar with the work we did last year tearing up the road and reconstructing it,” said Dan Danke, project engineer for the City of Lansing. “This spring we are planning on finishing the job, we’ve still got to do some final paving. We’ve got to do the sidewalk on the east side. We need to put in the street furniture for the streetscape and we’ve got some median islands that have got to be put in.”

 

The city needs to “determine how we’re going to attack each business…that’s not what I meant to say,” Danke said to a few chuckles.

 

“Construction should be a lot faster this year,” he said.

 

Last year a massive road construction project combined a sewer replacement project with road preparations for the Board of Water & Light power plant construction on Washington Avenue. There were severe lane closures and disruptions for businesses.

 

This year the work will be completed.

 

The meeting was held at Art Alley, an art gallery in the heart of REO Town on Washington Avenue. 

 

The construction project began in April. 

 

The scope of the work to be done includes more storm sewer work, streetscaping, bike lanes, road reconstruction, and final paving.

 

There will also be greening and planting in some of the islands that have been designed into the streetscape.

 

There were questions about issues that have surfaced since the work last year, like a drainage issue at the railroad crossing in front of the new Board of Water & Light building. When there is ice melt or any rain, a very large puddle/pond develops causing a hazard for vehicles.

 

Danke said there are debris bags around drains there to prevent excess dirt and debris from falling into the drains and into the river.

 

“For the most part they work unless they get filled with sediment,” he said. He added they are also supposed to be cleaned regularly.

 

The problem should be relieved when the final paving occurs, he said.

 

Much of the road work and reconstruction has been going on simultaneously with the Board of Water & Light’s new plant construction. Officials at the meeting said BWL’s facility should be completed by July 1.

 

 

There are at least three new business on this side of the block, Danke said referring to the east side of Washington Avenue.

 

 

Suggested the public go to a city website, the Construction Observer, www.lansingcso.com for updates every two weeks on construction around the city. Also he suggested to check the REO Town Facebook page.

 

Some complained some sidewalks are still hard to navigate and are too narrow.

 

“I would have liked to fix all the sidewalks through there but the funding wasn’t there.” Danke said.

 

Danke also said there will be no more CSO (combined sewer overflow) work around Lansing for the foreseeable future. The project separated storm sewer draining from sewage drainage to protect natural waterways from sewage contamination.

 

Danke said the “CSO program is on hiatus.”

 

Parking for the employees in the new BWL building was a question. Some asked if there was enough parking for the employees, but Danke and other BWL officials on site said they could not state definitively that there was enough private parking for all the employees.

 

This was printed in the May 5, 2013 – May 18, 2013 Edition