Page 8/The Sun and News, Saturday, September 17, 2022Kent County Road Commission board holds hearing
on 100th Street project in Gaines Township
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Kent County Road
Commission wants to
reconstruct a one-mile sec-
tion of 100th Street in
Gaines Charter Township
next year between East
Paris and Patterson ave-
nues.
The KCRC board held a
public hearing on the pro-
posed project Tuesday in
the Earl G. Woodworth
office building at 1500
Scribner Ave. NW in Grand
Rapids.
Some citizens have
expressed concern to the
road commission at pub-
lic meetings about speed-
ing in that area and how
the reconstruction will
impact traffic flow and
safety.
“We do have involve-
ment but, ultimately, the
(Michigan) State Police set
the speed limits based on
what’s called the 85th per-
centile,” KCRC Deputy
Managing Director of
Engineering Wayne Harrall
said.
He gave a brief presenta-
tion during the hearing and
answered some citizen
questions.Radar is used to deter-
mine the speed of 100 vehi-
cles on a stretch of road-
way. The 85th percentile is
the speed at, or below,
which 85 percent of the
drivers typically travel.
“Drivers really are the
ones who really dictate the
speed (limit). It’s based on
the comfort level of the
roadway. The only excep-
tions are residential subdi-
visions. Those are 25
miles per hour,” Harrall
said.
The proposed work
includes tree removal
along 100th Street prior to
April 1, followed by pave-
ment removal and earth-
work. After that, an
18-inch sand sub base will
be rolled out, then a 6-inch
aggregate gravel base willbe put down over that
before two courses of
asphalt pavement are
installed.
After the ditching and
drainage are done, the two-
lane pavement will be
marked. There will be
12-foot-wide lanes and
8-foot-wide shoulders con-
sisting of four feet of pave-
ment and four feet of grav-
el.
Harrall said the road
commission is required by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to remove the trees
before April 1 so as not to
disturb the endangered
Indiana Bat and the
Northern Long-Eared Bat
species that might other-
wise be out of hibernation100th Street as it looks currently, west of Hanna
Lake Avenue. Under a proposal, 100th Street would
be rebuilt next year between East Paris and Patterson
avenues (Photo from Kent County Road Commission)Open house gives Gaines Township residents
a chance to discuss parks and trails
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Several residents attended
an open house Wednesday at
the Gaines Township Hall to
give their input on a parks
and trails master plan that
will be developed in the
coming months.
Township planning offi-
cials and representatives
from the MCSA Group, Inc.
were also on hand. In June,
the township board accepted
an $8,740 bid from the Grand
Rapids-based architectural
firm, formerly known as
M.C. Smith & Associates, to
prepare the Parks & Trails
Master Plan.
They expect to complete
the planning document by
about the end of the year. It
will guide township planners
in setting objectives for
developing parks, trails and
recreational sites over a five-
year period.
Besides providing feed-
back at the open house, resi-
dents had until Sept. 23 to
respond to a public-input
survey that was posted on the
township website.
Tiffany Smith is president
of the MCSA Group. She
said the women-owned com-
pany specializes in public
parks throughout the State of
Michigan.
“And this project is to
decide what the public wants
in the township as far as rec-
reational opportunities,” she
said. “The goal of the rec
plan is to figure out what the
township and residents
would like to see improved
and implemented in the next
five years.”
No timetable has been
determined for when con-
struction work might begin
after the parks and trails
master planning document is
finished.
“They’re not definitive
projects yet,” Smith said.
“Basically, this document
allows the township to be
eligible for Michigan Natural
Resources trust fund grants
for natural park facilities.
And those (applications) are
due April 1, 2023. And, I
think, in the capital improve-
ment schedule there are sev-
eral items that are grantable.
And so, we’ll evaluate
whether we want to write
grant applications.”
The township also isworking on an overall master
plan for the township, which
should not be confused with
the Parks & Trails Master
Plan. That document will
guide future industrial, com-
mercial and residential
development.
“I’ve been very eager tohave a new parks and trails
master plan. So, I’m very
happy to see this coming to
fruition,” Dana Lehmann
said. She chairs the Gaines
Township Parks & Trails
Committee.
Community Development
Director Dan Wells said hewas pleased with the public
turnout at the open house.
“We’ve seen some prelim-
inary information from the
public input. And similar to
what was echoed in the
(overall) master plan, people
really want to see more trails,
more connectivity,” he said“A lot of preference for pas-
sive-recreation sites —
woodlands, trails, that kind
of thing. But also, a lot of
demand for active recreation,
as well. Especially, involv-
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Licensed & InsuredGaines Township Community Development Director Dan Wells (far left) and MCSA Group President Tiffany
Smith (beside Wells) smile at the parks and trails master plan open house at Gaines Township Hall. (Photo by
James Gemmell)See MASTER PLAN, on next pageSee 100th Street, on next page