UNDATED (WHTC-AM/FM, Oct. 12, 2022) – One long-term road project is now complete in eastern Allegan County, while motorists in the Holland area have an ongoing, recurring headache to deal with.
On Tuesday, officials of the state Department of Transportation, the Allegan County Road Commission and the Gun Lake Band of Pottawatomi Indians held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of a $23.7 million rebuild of the 129th Avenue exit on US-131. The “single-point urban interchange,” similar to ones on US-131 and 44th Avenue in Wyoming, and on I-96 at Cascade Road east of Grand Rapids, replaces the original junction built when the US-131 highway was constructed in 1959.
The project, which began in March of 2021, finished a month ahead of schedule, and the tribe, which operates the Gun Lake Casino nearby, funded the majority of the effort.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa County Road Commission announced over the weekend that North River Avenue will once again be closed between Douglas Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard. Beginning on Wednesday and running through October 22nd, contracted crews will need to finish up “permitted water main crossing work,” which was initially believed as being part of the rebuild of Holland BPW water transmission lines along Lakewood Boulevard that has taken much of 2022 to complete. It’s the second such closure in this area in a two-month span, as crews had to block off the River Avenue-Lakewood Boulevard junction in mid-August for about three weeks.
However, a Wednesday afternoon statement from the utility clarified that situation: “Holland BPW’s work at the Lakewood Blvd and North River Ave intersection is completed and construction is on schedule to be complete by the winter months. The work happening on River Ave. that caused the road closure beginning Oct. 12, is NOT associated with Holland BPW. North River Ave is closed between Lakewood Blvd and Douglas Ave for PRIVATE development work that is NOT a part of the Lakewood Watermain project.”
