Jefferson Avenue Gets A Makeover
Landscaped islands and more are being added to Jefferson Avenue near the Grosse Pointe border.
A road construction project is underway on Jefferson Avenue between Alter Road and Chalmers. Parking and biking lanes will be added along the curbs, and landscaped islands will be placed in the roadway.
Dan Burden is an urban planning consultant. He says Jefferson was first paved to carry a lot of traffic, but that’s no longer the case.
“The important thing to understand about traffic is it works better if you’re not stopping it for long periods of time while pedestrians are trying to cross the street,” Burden says. “So the roads could easily handle all the traffic it needs much better if the road only had four active lanes or only two active lanes and then turn lanes.”
Burden says the islands will make the area more attractive, which will bring in more businesses. He says the project will also make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street.
