Sterling Heights has big plans for one of its forgotten corridors. The Macomb County suburb is planning to create a façade-improvement program for its North Van Dyke corridor between 18 Mile and Hall roads before the end of the year.
"We're still in the start-up phase of putting one together," says Luke Bonner, Economic Development Manager for Sterling Heights. "We also want to phase in some street improvements. We've applied for a MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) grant but we don't expect to get that for a year or two."
The $750,000 in improvements would make the thoroughfare more pedestrian friendly, helping connect it to adjacent neighborhoods, downtown Utica and nearby bike trails.
The half-mile section of Van Dyke Avenue north of 18 Mile Road will be the primary focus of the streetscape project. Among the planned improvements are new, wider sidewalks with stamped concrete and brick pavers to encourage pedestrian traffic. New decorative street lights, benches, signing, trees, shrubs, crosswalks and other features will also be added. City officials hope these improvements and the façade-improvement program will help revive the commercial area.
"This is one of those areas that has been left for dead," Bonner says. "So we're making more improvements to attract more business investment."
Source: Luke Bonner, Economic Development Manager for Sterling Heights
Writer: Jon Zemke
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