GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Many streets throughout West Michigan have bike lanes, but for some cyclists, the traffic in downtown areas can be stressful or even dangerous. That’s why cities like Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are adding bike traffic lights.
There’s a lot of heavy traffic at the intersection of Leonard Street NW and Turner Avenue NW in Grand Rapids with traffic coming on and off the highway. For cyclists, these kinds of intersections can be dangerous.
“A lot of your crashes are when vehicles are making turns, so if a bicycle is going straight and someone’s making a turn, they don’t necessarily see them or have that visibility,” Ariana Jeske, assistant director of Mobile GR, said.
This intersection received the city’s first of several planned bicycle traffic lights in November.
“It’s going to go down Turner, kind of turn around, and then when it becomes Mount Vernon at Bridge Street, it’s going to go past the YMCA, new soccer stadium, down to Lake Michigan,” Jeske said.