Streets for All: Kalamazoo Ave (2025-2026)

• Project scheduleMid-year to November 2025 (Douglas to Michikal) & Spring - November 2026 (Westnedge to Harrison)

Kalamazoo Ave is one of several downtown streets that will be entirely rebuilt in the coming years. It will be converted from one-way, high-speed traffic to a two-way street that is safer and more comfortable for more people. This series of projects is called Streets For All and also includes Michikal St, Michigan Ave, Lovell St, South St, and others in the downtown area. 

Work on Kalamazoo Ave will start in mid-2025, after a related project on W Main St is completed and that street reopens to two-way traffic. In 2025, Kalamazoo will be rebuilt between Douglas Ave and Michikal St. It will be rebuilt as a two-way neighborhood street (through-traffic on Kalamazoo Ave will be directed to Michikal St, not through the neighborhood). This part of the project is scheduled to be complete late 2025. 

In 2026, construction on Kalamazoo Ave will start downtown, between Westnedge Ave and Harrison St. The street will be entirely rebuilt for two-way traffic, with modernized utilities (some of which are currently more than 100 years old) and things like smart traffic signals, transit upgrades, and improvements for pedestrians.

The Process 

The plans were developed over an 18-month design process that started in July 2022. Staff held public meetings, met with neighborhood associations, and went to events like National Night Out, Art Hop, and Lunchtime Live! to get feedback for the design. Our team also met with downtown businesses, conducted surveys, and reached out to residents by mail. The process guided the design team and established clear themes:

1. Inclusion of on-street parking in Downtown is a priority.
2. Clear, wide as possible sidewalks are desired. Consistent street trees are important.
3. Some of the priority intersections for north-south travel in Downtown are Kalamazoo & Westnedge and Kalamazoo & Porter/Pitcher
4. Some of the priority intersections for north-south travel in the Stuart Neighborhood are Douglas & Kalamazoo and Stuart-Woodward-Elm & Kalamazoo

The Plans

At the beginning of the process, the project engineers were considering a street with five travel lanes: two in each direction with a center turn lane. The feedback during the design process emphasized the importance of parking, so the plans changed. Now the plans are for a design which has a parking lane, two westbound travel lanes, a center turn lane, and one eastbound lane through downtown (this is referred to an unbalanced section).

In the Stuart Neighborhood, the street becomes more like a neighborhood street, with one lane in each direction and on-street parking. Kalamazoo Ave traffic will veer onto Michikal St and will need to make a right turn to enter the Stuart Neighborhood. W Main St will become two-way between Michikal and Douglas, so vehicles will be able to make a right turn from Michikal to head west toward Oshtemo on W Main. 

A stop sign will be added at Kalamazoo Ave and Douglas Ave intersection. A traffic signal will be added at the W Main and Douglas intersection, allowing vehicles to turn from W Main to Douglas and access the Douglas and Northside neighborhoods.  

Michikal St will remain a one-way street until the full Kalamazoo Ave project is completed. It will then be converted to a two-way street. 

You can view the plans below as a PDF or as images in your browser. 

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