MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - At the April 23 Township Board meeting, the Board discussed the possibility of a "road diet" on Central Park Drive and Newman Road.

This would entail slimming the roads down from two lanes of traffic each way into just one lane each way, along with bike lanes. The proposed “road diet” is part of a resurfacing project for Central Park Drive from Okemos Road to Grand River Avenue and Newman Road from Marsh Road to Central Park Drive in 2019.

This recommendation came from the Township Transportation Commission which held a public hearing on March 21, at the request of the Ingham County Road Department (ICRD), regarding reducing the number of lanes on Central Park Drive and Newman Road from four to three. The Transportation Commission voted unanimously to recommend a road diet for Central Park Drive, Newman Road as well as Hamilton Road.

Both roads are next to the Meridian Mall, and some of the concerns brought up at the Board meeting were that one lane each way may not be able to handle the amount of traffic in the area.

Meridian Township Clerk, Brett Dreyfus is not confident in this road diet. "Having that be a single lane, there's going to be a lot of traffic, back-ups and stops going on," he said. "This is very different than a residential area."

This was only on the agenda as a Discussion Item so no decision has been made yet, and the Board will continue the discussion at the next meeting on May 9.