After Months of Construction Busy Downtown Kalamazoo Street Reopens to Traffic

An update on one of downtown Kalamazoo's major construction projects.

Hey, we were all wondering! Well, at least I was. This is most direct route for me to take home each day and I've been eagerly awaiting this news since it first closed in the spring.

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This summer was rough, to say the least. During peak construction season in Kalamazoo it seemed like each day we were met with a new road closure or detour, or even worse a detour for the detour; it was maddening!

A majority of this construction is in preparation for the one-way to two-way street conversion in downtown Kalamazoo as part of the "Streets For All" initiative. Don't fret just yet! The big conversion isn't supposed to start taking effect until 2026.

The good news, however, the first phase of Michikal Street in downtown Kalamazoo is complete and now open to traffic. What a relief!

While Michikal has reopened as a one-way street the plan is to replace awkward Allen Bvld. with as it's own lane of traffic on Michikal once Kalamazoo Ave. opens to two-way traffic. Are you keeping up?!

As mentioned, nothing is changing for now. Says the City of Kalamazoo,

[Michikal] can't be converted to two-way until several other projects are completed and a safe two-way network can be established...The remaining portion of Michikal will be completed as part of the Arcadia Creek work...There is no firm schedule for the work on Arcadia Creek yet, but we expect it will be within the next few years.