By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

The discussion of what the vision should be along Division Avenue will continue this weekend as The Rapid’s Silver Line hosts a series of events that will temporary transform three intersections along the roadway into safer, more active and vibrant spaces.

Each event has a theme with the events starting on Friday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. with the Everyone’s Plaza at Division Avenue and Logan Street. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, will be two events, Everyone’s Corner on Division Avenue and Burton Street and Division Art & Cultural Market at Division Avenue and 43rd Street. All the events will include food, family fun, music, and other activities related to the theme. All the events are free but attendees are required to follow COVID-19 health and safety guidelines including face coverings and social distancing.

In partnership with Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and the cities of Grand Rapids, Kentwood and Wyoming, the Division United project kicked off in February, just before the COVID-19 lockdown, with a series of open houses at Division Avenue businesses. The open houses were designed to gather input from residents, community leaders and business owners about what they wanted to see along Division Avenue.

Despite COVID-19, the Division United project has continued with some changes.

“We were planning to have a team of ambassadors made up of residents and stakeholders going out and talking to businesses owners and residents about what are some of the different things they would like to see along Division,” said Bill Kirk, business affairs specialist for The Rapid. “Initially, have some in-person interactions.”

A shift was made to community connectors, people who are pretty well known in Kentwood, Wyoming and/or Grand Rapids, who are doing some personal outreach to the community. The Rapid also has been pushing its online survey at divisionunited.org. 

Through this process, Kirk said the group has received some good feedback and learned a few things that the community would like to see such as vehicle traffic slowing down at the intersection of 48th Street and Division Avenue where the Kelloggsville High School is close by.

“For the most part, what people want is more development and activity in the area, but they wanted it done right with future plans being of the mindset that think about Division Avenue specifically while not displacing the communities that are already there,” Kirk said.

The events this weekend, which were organized with help from Better Block, a national nonprofit that specializes in activating underutilized urban areas, are designed to help residents and others envision the possibilities along Division Avenue. There will be no road closures so those traveling in the area will not be impacted. 

Division United follows the Silver Line bus route along South Division Avenue that runs from 60th Avenue in Cutlerville to the Medical Mile/Grand Rapids Community College loop. The Silver Line was Michigan’s first Bus Rapids Transit (BRT) service. When launched in 2014, the Silver Line was looked at as a catalyst for potential economic ground development leading into the downtown area.

 

Hoping to spark the economic development, the Silver Line received a $696,000 Federal Transportation Administration grant to conduced a study with a $174,000 Michigan Department of Transportation match The cities of Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and Wyoming, which have parts of Division Avenue within their boundaries, each contributed $25,000 to the project. The Division United project is to find ways to improve affordable housing options business opportunities, and neighborhood conditions in the corridor without losing much of the diversity that is part of Division Avenue, Kirk said.

Along with utilizing input from residents, the study also includes data on land usage and codes. 

All three cities, Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and Wyoming, are in various phases of updating their master plans with the cities leaving the Division corridor open until the Division United study is complete, which will be in early 2021. For more information about the project, visit divisionavenue.org.