The city of Big Rapids will get a face-lift this sum­mer with the Downtown Big Rapids Streetscape Project, which broke ground May 3.

Some of the enhance­ments include road con­struc­tion with new pave­ment and curb, as well as new side­walks in some areas. In addi­tion, new LED street­lights, trees, and planter areas will be added. Pocket Park will be ren­o­vated as well and the remain­ing brick cross­walks down­town will be removed.

Roger Schneidt, Deputy Director of Public Works, said the mer­chants in the Downtown Business Association (DBA) began the plan­ning process in 2006.

The project, under­taken by J. Ranck Electric, Inc., is sched­uled to be com­pleted on Sept. 1 and will cost just over $1 mil­lion. The deci­sion passed almost unan­i­mously by city com­mis­sion mem­bers and the DBA to move for­ward with the project.

The pri­mary area that will be ren­o­vated is on Michigan Avenue between Linden and Pine Streets. Construction began on the west side of North Michigan Avenue and will progress to the west side of South Michigan Avenue. The project will then move to the east side of South and North Michigan Avenue.

Areas of Michigan Avenue will be closed dur­ing the project, but the plan is to close only the sec­tion under construction.

“If the con­di­tions are safe, the road will be open to traf­fic,” said Schneidt. “It will be closed at times for safety’s sake when the area gets too congested.”

The fund­ing for the project is pro­vided by three sources: $500,000 came from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Vibrant Small Cities Initiative grant, $400,000 was pro­vided by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Enhancement Program, and the remain­ing $150,500.64 was con­tributed by the City of Big Rapids Authority.

The Downtown Development Authority will reim­burse the City’s con­tri­bu­tion to the project.

Schneidt said meet­ings are ten­ta­tively sched­uled once a week through­out the sum­mer to pro­vide the lat­est infor­ma­tion about the project. He said the pub­lic is wel­come to ask ques­tions to rep­re­sen­ta­tives from engi­neer­ing firm Wilcox Associates, as well as the project con­trac­tor. Information will also be peri­od­i­cally updated on ci​.big​-rapids​.mi​.us, the city’s Web site.