Downtown Mt. Clemens is gearing up for a bit of a makeover. City officials are in the midst of approving designs and details for the $3- to $5-million Downtown Mount Clemens Streetscape Improvement Project.
City leaders hope to approve the plans early next spring and begin construction in 2010.
"We're about 10 percent of the way through," says Arthur Mullen, executive director of the Mt. Clemens Downtown Development Authority.
The city plans to redo its downtown streetscape along Macomb Place from Pine Street to Gratiot Avenue with a walkway continuing down to the Clinton River. Cherry Street from Market Street to the Roskopp Municipal Parking Lot will also be upgraded. The improvements include repaving the roads, adding new sidewalks, street lighting, landscaping, street furnishings and installing new sewer lines.
The idea is to make downtown Mt. Clemens friendlier to pedestrians and motorists while encouraging more commercial and residential investment. Roads will be narrowed to calm traffic and sidewalks will be widened to encourage public socialization and pedestrian comfort. The project is also expected to create a dense tree canopy to improve visual quality and provide a comfortable environment.
To pull it off the city needs to win a Michigan Department of Transportation grant to cover much of the cost. City officials plan to apply for that grant next year after the plans are approved. How much city officials can do with the project depends on how much money they can raise.
"It depends on how much money the state gives us and how much money the philanthropic community can raise," Mullen says. "
Source: Arthur Mullen, executive director of the Mt. Clemens Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke
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