What they're doing

The Ingham County Road Commission recorded more than 17,000 vehicles per day on the roadway in September 2004, according to the firm's recommendation.

With that daily load, Bottone said the bus can move slowly along Abbott Road as it travels to and from campus.

"They have all the stops to be expected, and traffic always plays a role," Bottone said.

Since the firm anticipates Abbott Road's traffic to almost triple — to 49,300 vehicles per day by 2030 — it is designing the expanded roadway to deal with congestion, according to the recommendation.

In comparison with other East Lansing streets, East Grand River Avenue handles about 40,000 vehicles per day, and Hagadorn Road has less than 20,000 vehicles traveling on it from East Grand River Avenue to Burcham Drive, Sneathen said at the meeting.

"The road needs to be rebuilt in general, because it's in bad shape," Sneathen said Monday. "Plus, with all the additional developments, it isn't adequate width-wise."

Gordy Hunsaker, CEO of Atlantis Development Group, which owns Chandler Crossings, said he welcomes the expansion.

"It's been needed for a long time," Hunsaker said. "It's been quite a traffic problem. I'm sure they did it as soon as they could do it, and it's going to really help that whole northern area."

What they've done

Although the city has anticipated the road's redevelopment, it didn't have the authority to carry out the project until recently.

"There were multiple jurisdictions that had responsibility for the roadway," City Manager Ted Staton said Monday. "It wasn't a roadway we were even responsible for until about 18 months ago, but since that time, we've been working."

For about five months, East Lansing has worked with Hubbell, Roth & Clark Inc. to develop the beginning design plans for the redevelopment, which would cost no more than $470,000, Sneathen said.

Associates from Hubbell, Roth & Clark Inc. met with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Ingham County Road Commission to discuss the impact of construction on wetlands near Abbott Road, said Nancy Faught, an associate at the firm. Until the project moves further along, those possible implications remain unknown, she added.

What might happen

Meanwhile, East Lansing officials want to pay for most of the project through state and federal grants, while only carrying 10 percent of the burden, Staton said, adding that, this will "easily be a multimillion dollar project."

More exact cost estimates will be available after February, but Sneathen estimates the project could cost about $2 million, he told the council.

The city already has $360,000 from Gov. Jennifer Granholm's "Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow" program, which gave more than $279 million to communities in July for local road projects across the state, Sneathen said.

East Lansing owns land along that stretch of Abbott Road, but in order to expand, the city needs to acquire about 17 feet of land on either side of Abbott Road from current property owners. Sneathen said the city plans to purchase the land. Using eminent domain isn't an option at this time, he added.

"It'd be several months before we'd have to decide that," Sneathen said.

If residents have concerns about the project, Mayor Sam Singh said the city welcomes the dialogue.

"This is not going to happen in the next few months," Singh said. "That will give us time to discuss what the impact will be for people."

Kristen Daum can be reached at daumkris@msu.edu.