Ypsilanti city officials have been receiving complaints of speeding along Harriet and Hawkins streets in the city's Southside neighborhood for years, but a new $162,970 grant from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) will help them address that.

Ypsilanti Public Works Director Bonnie Wessler says the grant funding from SEMCOG's Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) will allow the city to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility in that area, in line with the city's master plan and non-motorized transportation plan. Wessler says the city is reconstructing Harriet in two phases, focusing first on Harriet between First Avenue and Hawkins, and then Hawkins to Hamilton. 

"The project is timed to coordinate with some of [the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority]'s water main replacement work and to tie in with a couple of lead (or previously connected to lead) service line replacements too," Wessler says.

All crosswalks in the area will be brought up to current ADA standards. The project will also add bumpouts, which extend curbs or sidewalks into roadways, along Harriet and Armstrong. The bumpouts are expected to protect pedestrians and calm traffic along a corridor that sees many children walking and biking to and from a community center, a park, and Perry Early Learning Center.

Wessler says bumpouts "bring pedestrians into the visual field" of vehicles traveling down a street, so they're not hidden behind a lane of parked cars.

"And it narrows the road visually so they'll be more careful and on the lookout for pedestrians," Wessler says.

Read more about Ypsilanti's non-motorized transportation plan here.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township and the project manager of On the Ground Ypsilanti. She joined Concentrate as a news writer in early 2017 and is an occasional contributor to other Issue Media Group publications. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com.

Photo by Patrick Dunn.