Shoreline Drive Pilot Project

The City performed two live pilot studies of Shoreline Drive between 2022 and 2023, reducing Shoreline Drive to one lane in each direction, to test whether Shoreline Drive operates well under those conditions. The goal is to slow traffic, reduce the number of crashes and their severity, and make the roadway safer and easier to cross between downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and the developing Muskegon Lake waterfront. Please find additional information below, including project details, frequently asked questions as well as an opportunity to give feedback to City staff.

If you prefer to send an email rather than complete the survey below, you can email city staff regarding the project at roaddietpilot@shorelinecity.com.

What is the Shoreline Drive Pilot Project?
Last fall, the first phase of the project included reducing lanes for six weeks on the four-lane Business U.S. 31/Shoreline Drive along with regularly scheduled maintenance from Seventh Street to Terrace Street. Upon the conclusion of the road work and collection of traffic data during a time last year with fewer events and tourists in the downtown area, a second phase of the study would be conducted in the Summer of 2023.

Traffic control devices were again installed to temporarily eliminate one lane in each direction from August to October, 2023. The public space created by the lane reductions was tested for landscaped plantings and other potential uses. With the observations and data from the two test periods, the City's consultant provided results and recommendations to City officials in early 2024, which are available in the documents section near the bottom right of this page.

Why is the City interested in discovering better uses for Shoreline Drive?

1. Connecting Downtown Neighborhoods and Muskegon Lake | Testing a project that slows traffic by limiting cars to one lane in each direction. Two goals of the project are to create a safer, more people-friendly roadway and to connect the Muskegon Lake waterfront to our downtown and neighborhoods. Additional benefits include better opportunities for development and park-like green space along this corridor.
2. We often hear the argument, "there's nothing by the lake to connect to!" Walkable locations on the Muskegon Lake side of Shoreline Drive include Shoreline Inn, Hartshorn Marina, Terrace Point Marina, Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore, Neal Fitness Center, The Lake House Waterfront Grille and Event Center, Aqua Star Cruises, Cruise and Tall Ship Docks, LST Maritime Museum, Pigeon Hill Brewer's Lounge, Heritage Landing, Bike Trail, Dog Park, GVSU Annis Water Resources Institute, Kayak Launch, Terrace Point Landing, Viridian Shores, and more.
3. Increasing Safety | Shoreline Drive from Southern Avenue to Terrace Street carries from 12,000 to 20,000 vehicles a day at speeds 45 mph and higher. In the last 5 years, almost ¼ of crashes in the city where a person walking was killed or seriously injured happened in this area. In the last 10 years, 8 of 30 total crashes where a person was killed within the City occurred on this roadway.
4. Addressing Social Inequities | Muskegon, like many urban areas, has a legacy of redlining, highways, urban renewal projects, and continues to face their ongoing effects on marginalized populations. Today, urban highways are commonly known to have led to disinvestment in core cities, accelerated suburbanization, and caused damage to their immediate surroundings. Watch a brief video about redlining here. Watch the 5/9/2022 commission video to learn more about the history of Business Route US-31.
5. Fiscal Responsibility | To put it simply, the larger the street the more expensive it is to maintain. Reduction of the size of the street would also reduce the cost of pavement repair and replacement, underground stormwater management infrastructure, snow removal, traffic signal operations, and policing.

Why is the City looking at Shoreline Drive now?
Shoreline Drive is maintained by the City but owned by the State of Michigan (Michigan Department of Transportation, MDOT). For many years, the City has sought to have permanent control of this roadway in order to make it safer for motorists and pedestrians visiting the downtown area and Muskegon Lake waterfront. In advance of MDOT's transportation planning process for updating roads throughout the state, they have offered the City the opportunity to engage the community to reimagine what a reconfigured Shoreline Drive might look like. This pilot study project allows City staff to collect the necessary data to assess the viability of undertaking a multi-year process of making more permanent changes to Shoreline Drive.

How does this impact the future of the lakeshore corridor?
No decisions are being made at this time. The data gathered from this pilot project will inform future community discussions about Muskegon's lakefront and the transportation options to and through downtown. Those conversations could include which transportation modes and which system users are most important to the community, and how to safely accomodate all users that want to get to the lakefront. There are grants available to help our community reimagine what the Muskegon lakefront could look like, and the data gathered from this pilot will strengthen funding applications. Federal regulations do not allow Moses J. Jones Parkway to be included in the pilot project at this time, but the data gathered on Shoreline Drive will help inform future discussions about returning lakefront access to the core neighborhoods affected by the Parkway as well. You can learn more about how Shoreline Drive and Moses J. Jones Parkway are barriers to equitable access to the waterfront by viewing the video on this page.

Is the city taking into account the increase of new houses/developments along the lakeshore when analyzing the traffic study data? If so, how?
Yes, the modeling that was performed by the computer included a traffic growth factor in expectation of future growth. The pilot will confirm the modeling in the present, which in turn proves the computer model and implies it is also correct for the future.

What were the results for Phase One of the traffic study?
Find a summary and the full report under the Supporting Documents section. Below are a few key takeaways:

• Average Time Delay on Shoreline Drive: 5 seconds of additional delay.
• Highest Average Delay on Shoreline Drive: 20 seconds of additional delay.
• Speed Changes on Shoreline Drive: Average speeds were reduced by 3 to 7 MPH, increasing safety for both vehicles and pedestrians.
• Traffic volume on Webster and Muskegon: There was not a consistent substantial change in traffic volume on Muskegon and Webster. Some data showed a slight increase (+10-20 vehicles per hour during peak weekday times) on Muskegon/Webster, and some results showed a decrease in traffic with the Shoreline lane closures in place.

Has the city considered an overpass or some other type of bridge from one side of Shoreline to the other?
Yes. The City and partner agencies have examined several different overpasses or similar options to cross Shoreline Drive. Unfortunately, because of the railroad easement in place, any overpass that would be constructed would be cost-prohibitive. The railroad easement covers both the width of the railroad and vertical clearance. The vertical easements require a higher bridge and longer approaches, which makes the cost of construction prohibitive and more expensive than possible reductions in lanes.