Museum High students present bike, bus and pedestrian safety proposals; city staff point to planned crossing upgrades

Sixty students from Grand Rapids Public Museum High School presented transportation research and proposals to the Mobile GR Commission on March 6, urging safer bicycle infrastructure, better bus-safety measures and upgrades to crosswalks and pedestrian space near their downtown campus.

The presentations, organized by the school’s science teacher Katie, included six student teams that surveyed classmates, reviewed local data and proposed practical interventions. Student findings and proposals ranged from adding raised or protected bike lanes and physical barriers between vehicles and bicyclists to posting bus-safety protocols, expanding emergency call features at busy stops and creating a temporary pedestrian zone on Washington Avenue in front of the school.

Bike infrastructure: A three-student team (Connor, Mac and Edgar) surveyed about 74 classmates and found mixed experiences. Respondents noted good recreational routes such as Kent Trails and Millennium Park but described on-street biking in the city as “dangerous” where bike lanes are missing or drivers do not respect them. The students proposed more raised…