City of Lansing kicks-off series of events to shape Michigan Avenue on August 9

LANSING, Mich. – Imagine you’re driving down Michigan and Grand River avenues (the Avenue) and you see a refreshed community emerging. You grin, remembering that you were a part of the conversation that led to its transformation.

For years the region’s leaders have collected feedback from residents, business owners and visitors on what can transform the Avenue and enhance our unique places and community spaces to better support those who live, work and play in Greater Lansing. Now it’s time to act.

Shaping the Avenue, a partnership between the municipalities of Lansing, Lansing Township, East Lansing, Meridian Township and the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA), is kicking off a series of events to give the community a chance to test and react to options for guiding future development along the Avenue. Each community will host informal and fun hands-on open houses where they can test street design options; react to mock-ups of buildings; and tell the planners, designers, traffic engineers and transit officials how to shape the Avenue.

“The community shared their regional vision during The Capitol Corridor project. These are their neighborhoods, their streets, their sidewalks. We want to show Greater Lansing that we are listening,” said Brad Funkhouser, Deputy CEO, CATA. “Now we are asking the community to react to what our technical team has created based on their vision and tell us what we got right as well as what we may need to revisit.”

The City of Lansing will host the first of the Shaping the Avenue series with two events on Wednesday, August 9, 2017. Lunch N’ Plan is in the lobby of Lansing City Hall from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. for the community to connect during their lunch hour. Dine & Design the Avenue will be held at Lansing Brewing Company from 5-7 p.m. to capture the dinner crowd and folks out on the town. Free snacks and refreshments will be provided. For more information, visit www.shapingtheavenue.com.

Details about the remaining Shaping the Avenue series of community events in East Lansing and Meridian Township will be announced this fall. 

Shaping the Avenue is a multi-jurisdictional partnership between the municipalities of Lansing, Lansing Township, East Lansing, Meridian Township, and the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) who are working to coordinate land use and street design regulations to guide future development along the Michigan and Grand River avenues (the Avenue) toward its full potential. The community vision for the 8.5-mile corridor from the Capitol in the City of Lansing to Marsh Road in Meridian Township calls for an environment that supports residents, businesses, cyclists, drivers, pedestrians and transit users. A Technical Committee comprised of public- and private-sector representatives from each of the communities guides the initiative.