The Kalamazoo Planning Commission voted November 5 to recommend the city’s Capital Improvement Plan to the City Commission.
Director of Public Services James Baker presented the plan, which covers major infrastructure spending for the general fund, major streets, local streets, water and wastewater. The commission recommended it on a unanimous roll-call vote. The City Commission makes the final decision.
What the plan covers
Baker said the plan focuses on durable improvements and major purchases with a long useful life. Water and wastewater projects are paid for by water rates. General fund projects, such as city buildings, parks, public safety equipment and fleet, are paid for with general obligation bonds repaid through city property taxes. Street projects are paid for through the major and local streets funds, which depend on state gas tax revenue.
Projects Baker highlighted
- General fund: two elevator replacements required for accessibility, moving youth programming from the former YDC site to the Farmer’s Market area, new election equipment, and boiler replacements for the downtown snowmelt system.
- Streets: continued work on Kalamazoo Avenue, with construction moving east in 2027 and the section from the railroad tracks to Douglas finishing in 2028; two-way conversions of West Main and Douglas in the 2027 construction season; and new street lighting on Academy Street and other corridors.
- Local streets: more than 32 paving projects over five years. Baker said about 65 percent of the city’s 165 miles of local streets are rated poor.
- Stormwater: a new relief sewer on the north side, backyard drains and intersection drainage upgrades to address flooding.
- Wastewater: replacing aging structures, many near 40 years old, and retrofitting four circular clarifiers over the next two to three years.
- Drinking water: lead service line replacement is about 72 percent complete, with roughly 1,200 lines next, moving from the Edison neighborhood into Vine and toward downtown. The water plant consolidation project continues.
Why streets fell behind
Answering a commissioner’s question, Baker said street funding comes from state gas taxes, which are a fixed amount per gallon while vehicles have become more fuel efficient and construction costs have risen sharply. He said maintenance was deferred starting around the Great Recession, and that streets were falling into poor condition at about 18 miles a year while about 6 miles a year were being improved. He said the city is using pavement preservation, trial materials on East Michigan Avenue, targeted crew repairs, and a pending grant application with the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County to test recycled tires in repair material.
In response to other questions, Baker said funding for the downtown street projects is stable so far, but later phases could be scaled back if bids come in high. He also said the mobile camera carts in the public safety section are trailer-mounted units used for events and neighborhood requests, which he understood to be separate from fixed license-plate reader cameras.
The meeting is available to watch on Public Media Network.
