City staff, MDOT seek Muskegon City support for Apple Avenue redesign and possible turnback

City public-works staff and representatives of the Michigan Department of Transportation asked the Muskegon City Commission to signal support for a near-final MDOT design to rebuild Apple Avenue and for a separate resolution that would accept a future “turn back” of the road to city ownership.

Dan Vanderheide, the city’s director of public works, told the commission that MDOT obtained funding to rebuild Apple Avenue and that construction is planned for summer 2026. He said the reconstruction follows about two years of public engagement and that MDOT is asking the city for a public commitment in the form of two resolutions, which will be on the commission’s consent agenda at the next general session.

Why it matters: The project would change traffic lanes through much of the corridor, add a 10-foot shared path on the south side, replace water and sewer segments while the road is open, and carry a near-term city cost the staff estimates at about $3.8 million split over the coming fiscal year and the next. A turn back would give the city more flexibility on future design changes but would also shift long-term maintenance and rebuild costs to the city.

Key details and design changes Dan Vanderheide said the current design keeps five lanes near the highway, provides a three-lane section on the east end and a two-lane section through the downtown portion, with the principal recent change moving the two- to three-lane transition point from Wood Street to Terrace. Vanderheide…