FEASIBILITY OF A MUNICIPAL PARKING LOT IN LANSING, MICHIGAN O‘. m V _‘ , w .. — 'v—‘v I944 I w... I H. DEAN. FRAVEL, 18. i i "I'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATEDUE DATEDUE DATEDUE guze 10% 900(1-I 6/07 pJCIRC/DateDue.indd-p.1 Feasibility of a Kunicipal Parking Lot in Lansing, Kichigan A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of QICHICAN STATE CCLLLGL of AGRICULTURN AND ATILILD SCILLCE by H. Dean Fravel Jr. Candidate for the Degree of Bachelor of Science January 19AA PREFACE In December l9hl war was thrust upon the United States of America by the Japanese attack upon the Hawaiian Islands. The full impact of all-out warfare was not immediately felt by the common man on the street. The first to feel the effect was naturally the armed forces. Then came the immense turnover of industry to the making of arms and all the necessary implements needed to maintain a modern armed fight- ing force. Finally the full regimentation of the nation necessitated the rationing of gasoline, tires, and foodstuffs. With approximately six million men in the army, the shopping habits, and needs of the people of the cities have been greatly altered. Public transportation has taken on a capacity load. There are however two factors which tend to send shOppers to the central business districts. The most important fact is that more people are gainfully employed with the resultant increase in the desire to spend. The central business area controls most of the products that at the present time are not rationed, and the center of entertainment - chiefly theatres in lansing — is in this district. The lesser fact is that in some outlying districts even the rationed commodities cannot be found due to the small merchants lacking buying power or storage, or in some instances completely clos- ing their shops, many being called into the service. It is under these conditions that this survey is made but the author thinks that a good basis for his recommendations are still to be found, allowing due regard to traffic and vehicle Operating conditions. Furthermore the needs of the furture will be greatly influenced by the I.» Ur an CD Iv . 13 length of the present conflict. The author would like to express his thanks to the fine co-opera- tion extended to him.by'Mr. Sidney Anger of the Lansing Traffic Bureau, the various members of the Michigan State Highway Department, Traffic and Planning Division, mentioning especially'Mr. August Miller and Mr. Carl McMonagle, and finally to Professor C.L. Allen, head of the Civil Engineering Department, Michigan State College, under whose direction this survey was made. II LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Number Page 1. Map of Lansing & E. Lansing, Michigan 3 2. Table of Curb Parking in Downtown Area 5,6 3. Map of Off Curb Parking in Downtown Area 8 A. Map of Location of Parking Meters in Downtown Area 9 5. map of Recommended Locations of Parking Meters In Downtown Area. 10 6. Map of Approximate Land Values in Vicinity of Recommended Parking Lot Site 13 7. Sketch of Angle and Parallel Parking on Kichigan Avenue lb On the banks of the Grand River, located in the geographical center of the lower peninsula of the state of Michigan, lies the city of Lansing. Here is the state capitol, with its large administrative building, occupying an area equivalent to four city blocks. This is the center of the city. Facing east from the capitol is the business district, extending approximately four blocks to the east, south, and north. Behind the capitol is a residential area with the usual attendant narrow streets. The larger manufacturing plants, namely the Oldsmdbile works, the Fisher Body Company, the Reo Motor works and several forge companies, are well located as regards to access by the bus line or automobile. Lansing is not a boom town but has grown steadily to near its present size. Now due to the war work and its accompanying restrictions of transportation the population has reached a maximum for the present housing conditions. The pOpulation is quite evenly distributed over the entire city with perhaps the east side of town with its suburb of East Lansing having a slight preponderance. Public transportation is served by one bus company, the Inter-City Coach Lines Inc.. They have in Operation forty-nine buses, that are carrying many more people than they are designed for. This leaves only the automobile to get the populace down to the central shOpping district. The two main thoroughfares are Michigan Avenue and washington Avenue. Michigan Avenue runs due East and West from the Capitol and carries the burden of traffic from the College town of East Lansing. This community has a population of about five thousand with a very high rate of cars per capita. Michigan State College is located here and has a student body approaching seven thou- sand. The student body depends 905 on buses for transportation to III" I." downtown Lansing. This throws an enormous load on the bus system, especially on Saturdays, which is the general shopping time for the students. This necessitates the residents to drive downtown theme selves. In other districts the situation is not quite so bad but the transportation system is fully taxed and the people, if possible, drive downtown to do their shopping. The central shOpping district has quite a problem in traffic flow. This is caused by the unique arrangement necessitated by the location of the Capitol Building and the Grand River. These two obstacles ( see map on next page ) necessitate left turns at very important intersections if the traffic flow is to follow a natural channel. All traffic from the east side of town that comes down Michigan Avenue must make a left turn at the Capitol as no left turns are allowed onto Grand Avenue or washington Avenue during the rush hours or on Saturdays. Likewise all traffic from the north that wishes to go east out Michigan must make left turns onto Michigan Avenue and this is likewise only allowed at the Capitol or during the lax hours during the day or evening. This all tends to congest the traffic in this concentrated section, especially during the rush hours (7:00-8:30 A.M and A:30—6:OO P.M.) and on Saturdays. Angle Parking: Lansing's two main streets (Washington Ave. & Michigan Ave.) have 115 ft. right of ways and are 77 feet wide curb to curb. Primarily streets were constructed to carry traffic and also served as parking space for the vehicles. With the growth of traffic the streets became more and more important especially in regard to the transportation MAD OF CITY OF LANSING AND EAST LANSING 36 IS I D FEB. n, [”6 géfifl kaZGQ OFFICE OF CITY ENGINEER D E R CEDAR GOLF COURSE g0 #91 _Ifl!H%U \‘\|\\\K\|‘\l.\l gm D ~\ \\ . ‘kxg 4* ‘V Illflfiu F EL. IUIEUDU fluil F i JTHEUUD UUQEDDUH , TI 5 _L_ :EBH: / W M EL Hflflui \S‘N D I \ 2‘ hw_{ :\ Elm WIDE Asa-Q h. 5Q \iw: 5% gang: , Elma “.” a .\I .. _ Em; .m‘95k i... .o m x l ._ W#Uflfiu fliflflflm WHEIEQWQUEEUWfiuEWfiflflu. imam-gum aDDmnfiE Q . z b '5 s a a: Ilnfl:ln-=EHEUIE flfiuflfiunmflwflEUmD HZHEEU flaflflfiu l . a a n A v c I, 1 mafia nu am a m QR maulmmnm Eu“ EENJ" ,6. § s llyl 9 x div/a final-DEE i Jf—j ‘J—Tmt’fil—J‘D-ICJDCJDDDDDDCJ § ~ § \ I '64;§“ v CQUNTRY ED \ Bfiflflmm we ran \k.’ WT / EQQFMHZQQ / mae:.e2 ggggg “go-3‘0,” 02(9) so“, ._ _ . flH ! a. skip: . “Mugyhmmm Ala EEC Ctr; .IEWUDDDDUE 3a ,. mfigimfimgg “Q 30. 7.4 «an! ( D E E E E w m I a m mI { r \ a b. . o \ C u x we Eta % l" N If ‘2 § R 7.1 III- lal___ i . e u a m M . k EEC/mm? .flljfiiifims\ y; §% [3 J Em 3% -D g 8 :5; DDDDBD w DEED w FRANCU DADK r. w: “NEEDED fl\ RMMUWMJImMWijfiQW:QWZQWV u ammuxflulflssggu, .. I: Z".- // problem. In the early thirties there was no really serious parking problem in downtown Lansing and consequently when people came down- town they could take their time and park for hours. With the increase in the number of vehicles the parking problem began to develope, but the immediate but not permanent solution was the parking meter. The legality of the parking meter is still questioned, but they have aided the parking situation in many places. Another habit of Lansing drivers is to pull into the curb and park at an angle. This in all probability was a throw back to the horse and wagon days with the familiar hitch- ing post. It was customary in those days to tie the team to a rail or post. In order to get the greatest number of teams to the rail it was necessary to let the wagons protrude into the streets. With the ad- vent of the automobile the people naturally took to this easy method of parking. Nothing has been done to any extent to change this pro- ceedure, which offers another hazard to traffic in downtown lensing. At the present time the merchants of downtown Lansing have two important business days. The greatest trading period is of course on Saturday, but recently Monday nights have become a favorite shop- ping time. It is thought that this Honday night trading time will become more and more pOpular, especially after the war as people will like to travel on week-ends. Due to conditions it was necessary to base this study of parking in downtown Lansing on Monday night observations. On Monday night, March 22, 19L3, a survey was made of the utilization of curb space in the business area. One week later a second survey was made. The average results of the surveys are tabul- ated on the following pages: STREET Lenawee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ionia Ottowa Shiawassee From Capitol Washington Townsend Capitol Washington Grand Walnut Townsend Capitol Washington Grand walnut Townsend Capitol flashington Capitol flashington Grand Mill Cedar Walnut Seymour Capitol washington walnut Seymour Capitol washington Seymour Capitol washington To Washington Grand Capitol washington Grand Cherry Townsend Capitol Washington Grand River Townsend Capitol washington Grand washington Grand Mill Cedar Half-way to Larch Seymour Capitol washington Grand Seymour Capitol washington Grand Capitol Hashington Grand NO 0 C 1". R48 20 1h 17 21 23 18 17 25 21 25 23 25 31 26 24 21 3h 98 A9 #5 29 31 22 19 16 2O 20 19 28 20 2A <1 :1 O a U) "U 3, O E J o [—1 COO OOOV! COOP 00000 0000 00000 NOOO mm ‘ '1" .175}. STREET Townsend Seymour Capitol washington Grand Cedar River From Kalamazoo Washtenaw Ottowa Ionia Lenawee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottawa Ionia Hillsdale Lenawee Kalamazoo flashtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottowa Ionia Shiawassee Lenawee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottowa Ionia To washtenaw Allegan Ionia Shiawassee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottowa Ionia Shiawassee Lenawee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottowa Ionia Shiawassee Genessee Kalamazoo washtenaw Allegan Michigan Ottawa Ionia Shiawassee North of Michigan South of Michigan Kalamazoo Hashtenaw No. CARS 20 29 26 2A 25 25 25 21 21 33 32 VACANT SPACES N O I? DO OOOOOOE \hOOOOOOOO OOOOOOV'I 00 OO From the data gathered it is seen that 2336 cars were parked on the streets of Lansing between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.. If parallel parking were instituted on Michigan and washington Avenues, only 2027 cars could be parked in the same area for the same length of time. This would necessitate finding room for these 309 cars. The off-street parking on these nights* amounted to 1A0? cars parked in garages or in parking lots, and a total of ABS vacant parking spaces. By personal interviews with the prOprietors of these establishments, it was found that during the important shOpping hours their facilities were usually fully utilized. It is safe to assune that to the 309 cars need- ing parking spaces we should add 30%#* of the cars now parked in off- curb parking enterprises. The reason for this is that the vacant lots used for parking now are not actually for that purpose, but are merely being utilized for such until a better use can be found for the property, such as a store or office building. This would demand parking space for 55h more cars, which added to the 309 previously mentioned makes a total of 869 cars. A slight enlargement of the metered area would help relieve this situation a little. Another aid would be making the present two hour parking meters, one hour meters, and let the new ones be used for two hour parking. The revenue collected from this expansion of the metered area would counteract the revenue lost by doing away with angle parking on washington and Michigan Avenues. If this plan were instituted room would not be needed for the 309 car spaces (metered) lost by parallel parking, but we still have to find room for 55h cars. To get * See map on following page. ** Estimate - based on respective growth of business area from estimated population growth of 64% by 1960, from Planning Commission Survey. J I J l I L WALNUT ST. J 1 JL CEDAR -——~———«-—1 [ .__—__._.~ 733-83) 9M szAWASSEE ST. ‘ '4 47 5 m (D E ED ,4 m ______‘ ED (1 2| 7o 3 CD 0 2 f— >- IONIA ST_ U "’ El .0 E as GD 27 ea OTTAWA ST. Qg ‘~ OTTAWA ST, {.— Q lo . w 'J | [ 7| 2 .-..---, L 70 I It :0 I E 69 '5 H . :4 n ._ ' u u L; > I 1 m > < 6’ 2 __*J .- 0 MICHIGAN AVE. __ - '— ‘ O. . g H o u — z I < U) a: 51 < o __ m 3 _l_2 IN ALLEY '4 . , O z 9 6 H E ‘ ‘ ALLEGAN st 0 3| (9 ‘1‘, 'L | l \ I n . [356 so ‘ ® ‘ _ J ‘29- WASHVTENAW ST. _' j \J3ZI" I 1 ‘.~( 1 EH " (B) ‘ i ‘0) i ll? [ o E: m . 2 _____J— (a i 2 OFF CURB PARKING m Dowm'owu KALAMAZOO ST. LANSING. MIC H. 23 29 MARCH 29,2943 .-' a m u) 7 so > 3 (1D 40 g N9 - CARS IN [OT 0 I? Q -VACANT cAR snap-:3 U ‘\ ." 20 I ;.;‘ -GARAGES LENAWEE ST. AL I I SHIAWASSEE ST. 000 00000000000fl000000 0 0 000000 IONIA SLYMOUR 0000 0000000 000000000000000000 l.......,,, OTTAWA ST. OTTAwA ooooooooooooee :oeooqreoeeeo? : s - H e g 0 g n P. 3 3 ° ‘" I“; 1:5 :u: - . ° < : l- ‘ ( o 0 0 '0 o o _ 2 o MICHIGAN AVE. 5 — : 8 : 0000000000000. 0 0 0 0 00000000000000000000000000000 000000000.000 _ 2 ° I: ‘ 3 z 3 I ° 0 ' J 0 . : i : o 2 . ( :U. :m: o ( . 3 . 0 5‘5 0 a . I . 535 ° ' a o 0 : : o ( : t : : , 3 __I 000000.. 000001.: :eooeee eoeeeo. I‘egoeeoo ngooggv 0 U —_ ALLEGAN ST. 000000000 000000 0000 00 0 00 00000 ‘J 000. 0000 00000000 WASHTENAW ST, 00000 000000. eeeeeee t-‘ g ‘" I 3 a 3 i § 3 LOCATIONS o i or ~ 5 is ‘ PARKING METERS ‘ KALAMAIOO 51'. IN 5 . s I: LANSING.MICH. 3 : |-' ‘ i z “’ .9 ° g > 73 o - IHOUR PARKING METER i . g e - ZHOUR PARKING METER 8 3 u ' : : 1: ' u 5 APRIL 2.I943 . u-MAN IIAVIL LENAWEE st Ill I V -‘ — I“ J Li _I JI_ I I IL [‘____________‘ SHIAWASSEE ST. I I I I ° 0 I . . I ° ’ I I I ‘ 0 l ° 3 I 0 . I 0 0 0 000' 0000 0 0 0 0 0 ._ IONIA ST. 0 m 0. .0 . O . .0 . .= . m ' ° - I 3 ° . U 0 ° : . ' 2 ° ‘ > - ° J 0 U . . . . m . . . O : 3 q ° . 0 . ' OTTAWA ST, C . . .I . _ 00000 :"':'I|°"lllll:, : 000000000000000. 000bfi1r0000. .000001IW0000000 : : - : - ‘-’ 0 L ' . ° 0 I- m = I: ‘ - ' "' L— ' .T‘ : ' . ‘° In I“- . U' :31: z; >° .‘. 000009000 4 00000000000 0 000000000000000000 000000000000 ‘ g (5' z‘ MICHIGAN AVE. 2 t 00 .oml000oefg 0000000000000000000 0000000 0000050 J 0 . F0 0 . ( 0:. :IUO 0%. I 3 :u- . 3 ° '(o O . 0%: .1. 0 0 :(0 0. fi : : .30 0 o 9 . 0 z . U 000000000000000: .000000 000000. \30000000J0 00 ° U ALLEGAN ST C.............. ‘.... ........ . ... ....... . Z I . 3 I I - ' - d 0 -. . d o d . . I . 4 ' I - ' 0000 000000 00000 00000000 WASTENAW ST. 00000 000000. 00000 0000000d [A 0 0 0| ‘0 . . 0 0 o o 0 : z . z 2 . . . . . U . 0 . . . ‘2 : 2 : ‘ ° ° 3 0 . . . z 8 ‘ I : . 2 . RECOMMENDED LOCATIONS .I o o 0 I . : 0 o . 0 OF _ . 900.000.000 ...9 Illlllfl . PARKING METERS KALAMAZOO ST. 0000000000. 00 .goooToo 'N . . I LANSING,MICH. ' 6' o . '- \b) 0 . m ‘7’ ’ I > ‘ o -IH0UR PARKING METER ' . g 0 -2HOUR PARKING METER 0 0 U I U 0 APRIL 2J943 ° NOEAN 'IAVCL LENAWEE ST. _J 1". this room a municipal Parking Lot is recommended. From a brief survey, the best available and also most economical location would be the area bordering the Grand River, extending eastward to Depot Street, and running northward to Shiawassee Street. The land here, offers either of two good methods of parking. There is room for a 600 foot by 350 foot parking lot here. That would accommodate close to 900 cars, if they are parked under standard conditions. Secondly, a smaller area can be acquired and an Open ramp, car storage, with two or more floors can be built. The later method seems to be preferable for several reasons: The land necessary for this could be reasonably ac- quired (it is now vacant property); if Ottowa Street is bridged across the Grand River and extended to join East Ottowa at Cedar Street, as the City Planning Commission Study strongly recommends, the parking lot would not be interfered with, but would border on the street; the downtown business men and office employees could park on the top floors, and thus the lower floors would be used for the short time shoppers; and finally, as attendants are necessary in both cases, one or two extra employees only would be necessary. The area is easily accessable and entrances and exits could both be arranged for from Shiawassee Street and also from.Hichigan Avenue via Depot Street. The city also owns a tract of land along Shiawassee Street, which would further out down costs. There is one major drawback and that is the railroad siding of the New York Central Railroad Company. This is little used however and some suitable arrangement could undoubtedly be worked out with the company. Until Ottowa Street is extended over the Grand River, a cable suspension foot bridge, at the same location is recommended. This would place the user 11 1 I,.. vIIvIIeIIIPI0 Ill 3 of the parking lot only two short blocks from the heart of the business area. All recommendations for the future develOpment of the Lansing business district, in the City Planning Commission Study, encourage the growth of the business section to be eastward, out Michigan Avenue. This would tend still farther to place the proposed parking lot in the center of the business area. The map on the following page shows some approxe imate real estate values of this site. The feasibility of a municipal parking lot in Lansing should now be easily recognizable and the second.most important result - (the first is naturally the parking convenience) - of this project will be presented. Angle parking would be unnecessary on Michigan and washington Avenues. On a following page will be found a diagram showing the two methods of parking, angle and parallel. From the sketch the most important item is obvious. With angle parking only one lane of traffic can keep moving while a driver is pulling out from his parking space. In parallel parking two lanes can keep moving during the same operation. This is very imp portant as the traffic flow downtown must be as smooth and rapid as poss- ible. A survey made by the Lansing Traffic Bureau in November l9h3, showed the following number of vehicles per twentybfour hour period, averaged from a six.day count. This was not a personal count, but was taken by automatic short count machines. Hashington & Main Sts. 10,256 cars per 24 hr. flashington & Genessee Sts. 12,876 cars per 24 hr. Capitol & Allegan Sts. - 9,089 cars per 2h hr. The count taken on Washington Avenue and Genessee Street will show fairly well the volume of traffic coming into and out of the downtown district. From studies of vehicular traffic-variation of flow by hours of the 12 too. guise . .395 .8 “3.; 3332 I ooIoo "szoun azfi .3 03$, 3832 I 080 .._.m m _U . MW >m 3226 w _ _ . 8.3 M _ ooom we . Comm x mum, SS _ . . _ >Pmumomd HZ . _ . _ _ _ .2: N. H04 m, #0... .v HO... m, H04 . _ _ _ _ . p . . . a "II? .2....l:.......in....i..0mmlqo_onq _ 00mm . _ ,5 E2”: 3 is. 29: magma; 30.. _ m II m2 m2 at I.» Q. ya LEIJ \ t x _ ~ A _ _ _ TI ILII/ Sam azée - , .. /-/ 13 CURB D o I I I l ' ____ —— _3as—.s——p ~— ____, ——s 7""; LEGEND l |I \ A - PARKED CAR \\ \\ B - DEPARTING CAR \B \ I c- PARKED CAR | \\ \\ D- MOVING TRAFFIC \ \\ ' E ' E- MOVING TRAFFIC r--\ \ . \\ \\\ \\ \ \ \ —_"I \\ \ I \\ I\—-—- I9.0 sum—3 28.7l--—--- ——--— ———- ---- ——)-1 l I C_ ~ —~ 37.5 ms _ A 91‘ I average traffic day and personal observation, a maximum hour rate of thirteen (13%) percent, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. is assumed. At this rate there will be 167A cars passing this intersection in this hour. At this time of day it is safe to assume seventy (70%) percent of this traffic moving in one direction. This will mean 1172 cars moving in two traffic lanes, going in one direction. From studies made by Lewis W. McIntyre,of street traffic in Pittsburgh, Pa., we can assume the vehicle capacity of one lane of street traffic, when uninterrupted, to be 2300 cars per hour. According to the studies we can deduct fifty (50%) percent of this capacity due to cross streets interference; this leaves 1150 cars per hour capacity. Due to the small interference of traffic lights and pedestrian interference, a reduction in the capacity of each lane of thirty (30%) percent is assumed, which is quite a lot lower than the recommended percentage applied to Pittsburgh streets. This leaves the capacity of each lane as 80h vehicles. The studies now indicate a reduction of fifty (50%) percent for curb parking. This will only effect on of the two lanes of traffic and will permit 402 cars per hour to move in the outside lane and 80h cars per hour in the inside lane, making a street capacity, for traffic moving in one direction, of 1206 cars per hour. Our actual traffic count totaled 1172 cars moving in one direction in one hour on flashington Avenue. This would indicate-that between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Washington Avenue at Genessee Street, the street was carrying ninety-eight (98%) percent of its capacity. With an increase in automobiles after the war, congestion would be inevitable if no changes were made. Congestion is a term defined by the Highway Research Board, in 1928, as "The number of vehicles which fill the road and make turning out impracticable, this condition to last 15' a sufficient length Of time to be noticeable." ”The free-moving capacity of a road is defined as, " the free—moving traffic capacity of a roadway is reached when any further increase in traffic volume, all other factors remaining constant, results in a marked decrease in traffic speed." One way to help alleviate this situation, and at no extra cost to the taxpayer, would be to eliminate angle parking, and materially cut down curb interference by permitting two full lanes of uninterrupted traffic flow. Angle parking is known to cause more accidents. From a careful study of Lansing's traffic accident record for 19A3, by far the majority of accidents have occured on Michigan and Hashington Avenues, where angle parking is practised, especially in the downtown area. On flash- ington Avenue there has been in 19A3, up to November 3, 1943, 2AA traffic accidents. Of this amount eighty (80%) percent have been in the down- town area. From talks with the men* who have investigated these accidents, by far the greater percentage were caused with angle parking as a factor. A person driving a car parked parallel has a clear View of the street in either direction when pulling away from the curb; this is not so with angle parking as there is a brief period ( the first few feet of back- ward motion ) when the driver cannot see the oncoming street traffic. This fact has caused the knowing driver to drive at a considerable distance from the protruding ends of the parked cars, and thus this driver edges out into the farthermost traffic lane, which slows up the moving traffic out there. It also may force the center traffic lane across the white safety line in the center Of the street, causing a *Lt. Pletcher notably - Head of Lansing Police Dep't., Traffic Division 16 violation of the city traffic ordinance, and creating a very definite and serious accident situation. The greatest benefit of angle parking is the ease of parking the car. It is not deniable that it is easier to park this way, but with the modern improvements in the automobile, the ability of the drivers should improve. In many states a drivers license is not issued until the applicant can parallel park in a 20 foot space satisfactorily. This 20 foot space should be allowed every car. There are a few parking meters (S. Grand near Michigan Avenue) which do not allow this distance and considerable difficulty has been noted here. In recommending a municipal parking lot, the justification of such a project has been set forth. The small merchants should favor such a project, the large retailers ( Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Arbaugh Inc.) have realized the need for parking space for customers and have their own space for their customers. However it is to their advantage also, as the space they have now utilized for that purpose can be used for other ad- vantageous purposes. Some of the proprietors of the present privately owned parking lots may complain, but in general the lots with the advant- ageous positions will not suffer a great loss, and their investment is no where near comparable with the good derived from a municipal parking lot. Some of the smaller merchants may think that by doing away with angle parking they may lose trade. This was also the opinion of the small merchant when the city of Chicago cut down curb space in the Loop area for parking and built a Municipal Parking Lot eight blocks away. Statistics have proven the merchants fears were false and trade remained normal.. This project is definitely needed in the near future, and it is believed the City Council of Lansing, should in behalf of the taxpayer and autoist take an active role and appoint a committee to start an 17 investigation of the project. Lansing should be proud of its safety record, as the leader among the nations cities in its class. There is, however, no reason to rest on these laurels. Planning for traffic is an important function of the city government and it should be a continuous process. The needs of a city are constantly changing, the gradual alterations in land use, and the Operation of many other variable factors require that a traffic plan be kept constantly abreast of the shifting conditions. The facts presented in this thesis should aid materially in forming the picture of the traffic situation in downtown Lansing in the future. 18 7 7 No I 15”! v1. ‘ifll r s. I" .. ’ . T 3 y "L .v" . ‘1 .- v ‘ ri’as: ' Ce» Wm # as"? -"‘5..'3 .‘a ,. ‘r ‘4 -m—‘-cn _ - 'mxcchaN STQTE UNIV LIBRéRIES—- Mi ~* I'M ‘ 1’ 1 ['1qu ll .M 'l 1' l 31293500261668 rl ii