Downtown Construction

Written by: Becca Waters '11

                In August of 2009 our transportation lives were dramatically altered as we know it. The Michigan Department of Transportation, MDOT, began road construction in the city of Eaton Rapids. The first area to undergo the new road development was the stretch of road by the elementary school, Northwestern.

                That construction lasted through the end of November 2009 and through the winter we all drove peacefully, well as peacefully as you can with the dreadful white blanket of snow surrounding us. Then, in April of 2010, right after we journeyed back from spring break, the main street of Eaton Rapids was annihilated.

                As the orange cylinders and the road construction signs lined the roadways of the

Main Street and side roads the anticipation of what our renovated down town would look like really began to weigh heavily on motorists’.

                The construction hasn’t only caused a headache for commuters but it has also taken a chunk out of the cities budget. Eaton Rapids is paying for $781,006 toward the water main and storm sewer portion of the project. 2.75 million dollars of the project, the road improvements portion, is being funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, ARRA.     

According to an article written by Sally Trout for the Lansing State Journal some of the plans for the project included burying overhead wires, new paving along main street, decorative street lights, landscaping, and intersection and traffic signal upgrades.

                A very crucial part of the project is an upgrade of the city’s storm sewer; the improvements will cut down on the overflow of storm water into the Grand River.

                From a students perspective the construction has been pure torture having to commute through the detour to get to the school.

                Mallory Kunkel (’11) said, “The construction has been horrible, I avoided and am still avoiding the down town part of Eaton Rapids as much as possible.”

It was quite a pain when our town actually had to deplete our fourth of July parade, which happens to be a very well put on production, we usually have people from many surrounding towns come to see it. This year, if they came to Eaton Rapids, they saw a long line of orange barrels and road closed or detour signs.

                Not to mention, most of the towns’ population packed up and went else where for the holiday even though there was still activities in the evening, live performances from local bands, and the annual fire works show. The only positive part of less people assembling to the fire work show was parking and traffic weren’t an issue.

Although the construction has caused many problems for commuters, and put a damper in holidays that Eatonians regularly celebrate, the improvements to the town will be more than worth it in the long run and our town will have a revamped appearance to it.