Construction around new Kalamazoo event center ties up traffic

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Orange construction barrels and blocked roads in downtown Kalamazoo have been part of drivers’ daily commute for months, and for people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods, it’s been hard to get around.

“One day, you’re going to sleep, thinking about going to the grocery store the next day. Wake up and your entire neighborhood is in pieces,” Joshua Gadelkarim, who lives in the Allen Boulevard neighborhood, said.

Last summer, Gadelkarim said, it was a simple drive to places like the grocery store or restaurants on West Main Street. Now, closures on North Park Street and Eleanor Street have him adding time to his drive — he has to go several blocks in the opposite direction to get to a detour.

“Everyone trying to get to West Main has to turn in front of the Radisson. The people trying to get to the Radisson … they are trying to get where they are going and we trying to get where we are going which leads to bigger traffic issues,” he said.

ROAD WORK BLENDS INTO PREP WORK

Some of the roadwork projects around Gadelkarim’s neighborhood are part of the prep work for a new $300 million event center . City of Kalamazoo Public Works Manager and traffic engineer Dennis Randolph said some of the construction crews are swapping out aging water, storm and sewer systems that developers need to upgrade to support the 320,000-square-foot facility .

“They have a basic requirement based upon all our modeling of what they need to put back. In some cases, we’re asking for pipes to be increased in size or two and for those instances, the city pays for the difference in that particular cost. It sets us up for the future,” Randolph said.

Randolph said blocking roads now gives crews the chance to check and connect the systems. The project also aligns with the two-way traffic conversion of Michigan Avenue and Kalamazoo Avenue. He said it making up for lost time.

‘The pipes were all worn out and leaking and we had problems with our systems. What this does is just one aspect, it’s catching up a bit to work that was needed and should have been done a little bit at a time,” Randolph said. “It’s really working out better with the new event center. We’re able to integrate all this work together much more completely.”

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for some of the road closures. Michikal Street is expected to open in the coming weeks, the traffic engineer said it’s a template for what the public can expect what’s to come to both Michigan and Kalamazoo avenues.

“If people take a look at what we’re doing out there with the new landscaping and the wide 10-foot trail connecting Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan, it’s a nice and safe, convenient walk from the university areas to downtown,” he said. “I think they might have a better feeling for what we’re doing.”

Park Street could be open by mid-November. Closed portions of Westnedge Avenue is expected to be open by the end of November, city officials.

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