ESCANABA — When construction is completed later this year on Ludington Street in downtown Escanaba, what will the street look like?
While the primary purpose of the project is to replace aging water and sewer infrastructure beneath Ludington Street, the City is also taking the opportunity to implement several street improvements aimed at enhancing the downtown.
One of the most noticeable changes, said Project Manager Darren Pionk with C2AE, will be the addition of curb “bump outs” between 3rd and 10th Streets. They are designed to calm traffic, reduce crossing distances, and improve pedestrian safety. The rest of Ludington Street will remain structurally the same.
"Bump outs will be installed at intersections through 10th Street, including all four corners of the 10th Street intersection. As we go west to 11th and up to 16th Streets the pavement is going to be replace and much of the curb and gutter is going to be replaced but we are not putting in bump outs. Instead, they will be marked with paint," Pionk said.
The project also aims to address speeding concerns in the downtown. Currently, the speed limit in the downtown is 25 mph but traffic moves much faster than that. Pionk said the goal of the street design in the downtown is to slow traffic down.
"It is a downtown area. We don't need people doing 35 to 40 mph. We need them doing 15 to 20 and 25 mph max just so they can see the businesses and get orientated to where they are at. And for safety," Pionk said.
Parking will also change from angled to parallel parking. Pionk said that will allow for a bike lane on both sides of the road. The bike lane will remove bicycles from the sidewalks where there has been conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians.
"We are incorporating bike lanes on each side of Ludington Street. It will be part of the painting surface but it is going to be a designated bike path," he said.
Overall, the number of parking spots in the downtown will increase as the city replaces some curb cutouts and handicapped spaces are moved to the side streets. The current handicap parking locations are not ADA compliant.
A meeting will be held at city hall next Wednesday, April 15 for business owners and residents in the downtown from 9th to 16th Street to talk about the project. Crews are expected to begin milling Ludington Street from 6th to 14th Street beginning April 20.
