M-231 will become a reality

[Hellfighter]

FHWA issued aROD (Record of Decision) approving the M-231 trunkline. The M-231 bridge over the Grand River is planned to begin later this year.

[leifvanderwall]

Cool. Something to look forward to.

[Terry Shea]

The problem is it's basically going to be a highway to nowhere.

[leifvanderwall]

It is going to be used as a bypass around Grand Haven and it will give another bridge across the Grand River. I assume M-231 will also be labeled as Emergency 31. I think the MDOT is looking down the road : I think the US 31 drawbridge might be replaced very soon in the near future.

[bulldog1979]

I believe that the long-term plans are to purchase enough right of way to preserve it for a future conversion of the corridor to a full freeway. That way, US 31 could be rerouted to replace M-231, closing the freeway gap between Holland and Muskegon. I'm not sure what the plans are to connect the southern end of M-231 to US 31 at Holland. My guess would be that US 31 would be converted to freeway before it was realigned to swing east to the southern end of M-231 somehow.

[Terry Shea]

It is going to be used as a bypass around Grand Haven and it will give another bridge across the Grand River. I assume M-231 will also be labeled as Emergency 31. I think the MDOT is looking down the road : I think the US 31 drawbridge might be replaced very soon in the near future.

Yes, but it's going to be a very long, out of the way, 2-lane bypass, for the time being anyway.  And given what the Michigan economy is and has been, and how the Michigan government and MDOT in particular move at a snails pace, this stretch might not be converted to a freeway for several centuries, if ever!

The current proposal simply makes no sense whatsoever!  Why bypass a 4-lane freeway/expressway/highway with a 2-lane road that takes travelers away from the Grand Haven area businesses and at least doubles the distance covered via the present route?  No one is going to use it as a bypass except initially by the curiosity seekers. 

Yes, the bridge in Grand Haven does need to be replaced...it should have been replaced decades ago...but what's needed is another crossing or 2 in Grand Haven/Spring Lake in addition to a replacement of the present bridge.  I haven't seen any plans to replace the bridge, and Michigan probably won't replace it until it literally falls down!

I don't know why they can't convert most of the present US-31 alignment to a full freeway and simply build short bypasses around Holland and Grand Haven.  If they were going to build the full freeway bypass all the way down to I-196 it would be a different story, but building a 2-lane road way out in the sticks that no one is going to use is just plain stupid.

[Terry Shea]

I believe that the long-term plans are to purchase enough right of way to preserve it for a future conversion of the corridor to a full freeway. That way, US 31 could be rerouted to replace M-231, closing the freeway gap between Holland and Muskegon. I'm not sure what the plans are to connect the southern end of M-231 to US 31 at Holland. My guess would be that US 31 would be converted to freeway before it was realigned to swing east to the southern end of M-231 somehow.

Apparently MDOT has abandoned plans south of M-45 which is why I called M-231 a highway to nowhere.  I just don't see where this highway is going to get any use other than for a few farmers or when the bridge in Grand Haven gets stuck or needs work, and then it will still be quite a detour for the locals.

[rawmustard]

Yes, but it's going to be a very long, out of the way, 2-lane bypass, for the time being anyway.  And given what the Michigan economy is and has been, and how the Michigan government and MDOT in particular move at a snails pace, this stretch might not be converted to a freeway for several centuries, if ever!

The current proposal simply makes no sense whatsoever!  Why bypass a 4-lane freeway/expressway/highway with a 2-lane road that takes travelers away from the Grand Haven area businesses and at least doubles the distance covered via the present route?  No one is going to use it as a bypass except initially by the curiosity seekers.

M-231 is not presently intended to be a regular bypass of US-31. But at least when this bridge is complete, traffic won't have to drive all the way to 68th in order to get around a drawbridge opening or other mishap, as they currently must do. It seems rather unfathomable to me that we went so long to have Ottawa County crossings of the Grand River so far apart, so any bridge built betwixt them should be welcome

Yes, the bridge in Grand Haven does need to be replaced...it should have been replaced decades ago...but what's needed is another crossing or 2 in Grand Haven/Spring Lake in addition to a replacement of the present bridge.  I haven't seen any plans to replace the bridge, and Michigan probably won't replace it until it literally falls down!

The bascule bridge has only been around since the 50s and 60s. If it had been replaced "decades ago" as you suggested, that means it would only have lasted 10-20 years. Somehow, I would think you would want that bridge to last a lot longer than that. I do agree that another crossing or two within the immediate Grand Haven area should be studied, but unfortunately, this study doesn't cover that.

I don't know why they can't convert most of the present US-31 alignment to a full freeway and simply build short bypasses around Holland and Grand Haven.  If they were going to build the full freeway bypass all the way down to I-196 it would be a different story, but building a 2-lane road way out in the sticks that no one is going to use is just plain stupid.

For one thing, there's a lot of development north of Holland and in Grand Haven itself that would be impacted, which is why the initial freeway alignment splitting from I-196 east of Zeeland was prefered. The current alignment also is directly adjacent to a railroad much of the length between Holland and Grand Haven, and I would think that would have to be abandoned if MDOT ever thought of converting that divided highway to a freeway. But with the funding crunch, they had to scale things back a bit. At least they're adding travel lanes and making other improvements in those developed areas to try to relieve some of that traffic

[Hellfighter]

The buildup along US-31, especially in Grand Haven, south of Robbins Road, makes turning it's current alignment into a freeway, unlikely.

[Sykotyk]

Also makes driving it a pain.

Sykotyk

[Terry Shea]

Yes, but it's going to be a very long, out of the way, 2-lane bypass, for the time being anyway.  And given what the Michigan economy is and has been, and how the Michigan government and MDOT in particular move at a snails pace, this stretch might not be converted to a freeway for several centuries, if ever!

The current proposal simply makes no sense whatsoever!  Why bypass a 4-lane freeway/expressway/highway with a 2-lane road that takes travelers away from the Grand Haven area businesses and at least doubles the distance covered via the present route?  No one is going to use it as a bypass except initially by the curiosity seekers.

M-231 is not presently intended to be a regular bypass of US-31. But at least when this bridge is complete, traffic won't have to drive all the way to 68th in order to get around a drawbridge opening or other mishap, as they currently must do. It seems rather unfathomable to me that we went so long to have Ottawa County crossings of the Grand River so far apart, so any bridge built betwixt them should be welcome

Yes, the bridge in Grand Haven does need to be replaced...it should have been replaced decades ago...but what's needed is another crossing or 2 in Grand Haven/Spring Lake in addition to a replacement of the present bridge.  I haven't seen any plans to replace the bridge, and Michigan probably won't replace it until it literally falls down!

The bascule bridge has only been around since the 50s and 60s. If it had been replaced "decades ago" as you suggested, that means it would only have lasted 10-20 years. Somehow, I would think you would want that bridge to last a lot longer than that. I do agree that another crossing or two within the immediate Grand Haven area should be studied, but unfortunately, this study doesn't cover that.

I don't know why they can't convert most of the present US-31 alignment to a full freeway and simply build short bypasses around Holland and Grand Haven.  If they were going to build the full freeway bypass all the way down to I-196 it would be a different story, but building a 2-lane road way out in the sticks that no one is going to use is just plain stupid.

For one thing, there's a lot of development north of Holland and in Grand Haven itself that would be impacted, which is why the initial freeway alignment splitting from I-196 east of Zeeland was prefered. The current alignment also is directly adjacent to a railroad much of the length between Holland and Grand Haven, and I would think that would have to be abandoned if MDOT ever thought of converting that divided highway to a freeway. But with the funding crunch, they had to scale things back a bit. At least they're adding travel lanes and making other improvements in those developed areas to try to relieve some of that traffic

It may have only been around since the 60's but it was and is an extremely poor design that needs to be replaced, much like the poorly designed bascule bridge on I-75 was replaced in Zilwaukee.  We won't go into how the replacement bridge was also poorly designed for the moment.  At least traffic doesn't get backed up for miles now.  I don't think that original bascule bridge on I-75 was built much before the one in Grand Haven and it was replaced decades ago.

So who is going to use this new route?  I can't see anyone using it as a bypass for US 31 which is what the original plans called for.  Yes, another river crossing is needed, but this is too far away from the metro area.  If the bascule bridge gets stuck, traffic heading south on US 31 probably won't be aware of it until they're stuck in a traffic jam.  Then they'll be diverted onto 2 lane M-104 to where it meets with 2 lane M-231 and then onto 2 lane M-45. Yeah, it will be shorter than the present alternative, but it's still an alternative that is much too long and not designed to handle heavy traffic.  And that would be the only time I could see this route getting any traffic.  So we're going to have a 2 lane route that gets virtually no traffic most of the time and way too much traffic a few times a year.  There has to be a better alternative than this.

[Terry Shea]

The buildup along US-31, especially in Grand Haven, south of Robbins Road, makes turning it's current alignment into a freeway, unlikely.

Take a look at the original full freeway plans.  They were going to build a freeway bypass around Holland anyway.  In fact the "new" US 31 freeway was going to circle back and almost touch the present US 31 and would in fact be connected by a short freeway connector.  Why not just build this bypass, make improvements on the present alignment and build another freeway bypass around Grand Haven instead of building a 2 lane road that's too far away from the area to be used as a bypass?  I don't think they thought this out very well when they dropped the full freway plans.

[rawmustard]

Terry, Ottawa County isn't exactly low population density. I would think a lot of Nunica-Holland traffic welcome a bridge about where M-231 is being built. This is traffic that would currently use the bascule bridge. Once the M-231 bridge is complete, it would be expected that this traffic would shift over to it, alleviating the traffic on US-31 through the Grand Haven area. If you really think this bridge will be sparsely used, you'll be in for a surprise.

And as for the issue of SB traffic not being aware of a bridge mishap until they get to Ferrysburg, remember that VMSes were installed north of I-96 to warn of such a thing. Granted, the technology can be prone to failure, but if it works most of the time, traffic will likely use I-96 to get to M-231 should they need to detour.

As I've said before, it's unfathomable why Ottawa County needed to be divided for lack of river crossings. It's more important right now to cut the distance significantly between crossings rather than build a crossing only a mile or two from one of the existing ones. Maybe 10-20 years down the road, the county will get the number of crossings it deserves and a better US-31 bypass can be planned, but as conditions dictate now, this is a good start.

[Terry Shea]

Maybe 10-20 years down the road, the county will get the number of crossings it deserves and a better US-31 bypass can be planned, but as conditions dictate now, this is a good start.

This is Michigan.  I seriously doubt M-231 will even be completed as a 2 lane road within 10-20 years.   

[InterstateNG]

If a van hits a guardrail and bounces back into the travel lanes on a little-used bridge, does it still make a sound?

[leifvanderwall]

I understand the pessimism on this now declared M-231 project. I think the money is better served elsewhere like on I-94 for instance especially in Van Buren County and also spots of I-196 in the Saugatuck area.

[Hellfighter]

Well, I would ask about saving the money for the Ford Freeway, but I think MDOT has a separate account for that project.

[Terry Shea]

I understand the pessimism on this now declared M-231 project. I think the money is better served elsewhere like on I-94 for instance especially in Van Buren County and also spots of I-196 in the Saugatuck area.

If they're going to eventually convert it to a full freeway and connect it to I-196 east of Zeeland as the original plans called for, then I'm all for it.  But if they aren't going to construct a freeway south of M-45 this project is a total waste IMO.

[leifvanderwall]

I see what you are saying . I think the MDOT is afraid that a freeway bypassing the present US 31 corridor wil hurt the Holland businesses. From Chicago Dr. to Port Sheldon Rd, there are many outlet stores and restaurants along US 31 that have been hurt by the Holland job losses. Take half of that traffic off that stretch onto the new trunkline, the outlet stores may have trouble staying in business

[Terry Shea]

I see what you are saying . I think the MDOT is afraid that a freeway bypassing the present US 31 corridor wil hurt the Holland businesses. From Chicago Dr. to Port Sheldon Rd, there are many outlet stores and restaurants along US 31 that have been hurt by the Holland job losses. Take half of that traffic off that stretch onto the new trunkline, the outlet stores may have trouble staying in business

Ha.  Originally they were looking at building the freeway more or less along the present alignment and the mayor of Holland said something to the effect of: "They're not going to dig a trench through my city."

No tench digging on my watch.

[rawmustard]

MDOT is hosting an open house for this project on Wednesday, Sep 22, 5:30p—7:30p in Spring Lake. Unless something else comes up, I'll probably make an appearance. This is just another step in M-231 becoming reality.

[rawmustard]

After many long years, M-231 will finally open!!! The ribbon cutting ceremony appears to be this Friday (with a non-motorized event thereafter), while it will open to traffic on October 30.

[The Ghostbuster]

Given that it's just a 2-lane spur from Interstate 96 to State Highway 45, is anyone actually going to use this road? I have the feeling it will be underutilized.

[silverback1065]

Given that it's just a 2-lane spur from Interstate 96 to State Highway 45, is anyone actually going to use this road? I have the feeling it will be underutilized.

It doesn't appear to be very useful right now, wish it connected to 31

[Terry Shea]

After many long years, M-231 will finally open!!! The ribbon cutting ceremony appears to be this Friday (with a non-motorized event thereafter), while it will open to traffic on October 30.

I'm impressed that MDOT actually got this project completed, but I still don't think this route will get much use.