GRAND RAPIDS, MI - What do you think of a 15 mph speed limit on Bridge Street NW where pedestrians, cyclists and motorists would move amongst each other without guidance of signs, lights or crosswalks?

If you don't like the idea, you'd better kick it to the curb now because if Bridge becomes a "shared street," there'd be no curb.

Should Bridge Street be so pedestrian-friendly that you could sit in the middle of it? Here's a shared street in The Netherlands.

"Bridge Street's going to be the place to be, and I just love that idea" of a shared street, said First Ward City Commissioner Walt Gutowski, who owns several properties on the road west of U.S. 131. "I'm going to be calling all of my neighbors and see what they think, but I see it as the perfect spot."

Gutowski and several other city leaders, staffers and members of the Vital Streets Oversight Commission met Tuesday, March 10, with Chicago's complete streets director. Janet Attarian showed examples of street design in Chicago including a "shared street" that's under construction this year.

One of a few examples around the country, the shared street in Chicago will be like a public plaza "where pedestrians, cyclists and motorists must co-exist in one broad lane elevated to the same height as the sidewalk," the Chicago Tribune reports.

The philosophy of a "shared street" involves wider sidewalks and narrower lanes for vehicles, with no curbing to delineate the difference between the two. Traffic generally moves slower than 15 miles per hour and there's no jaywalking because, well, pedestrians take precedence.

Here are some features of shared streets in France.

On some shared streets, on-street parking spots are eliminated in favor of public seating. That's already part of the plan for Bridge, where a summer road resurfacing may get rid of on-street parking on the south side of the road between Winter and Summer avenues to make room for outdoor restaurant seating. There's a

public meeting

on that project 6 p.m. Thursday, March 19, at St. James Church, 733 Bridge St. NW.

"Walt (Gutowski) and I kind of looked at each other and thought Bridge Street" when we heard about shared streets, First Ward City Commissioner Dave Shaffer said. "There's going to be so many people crossing Bridge back and forth (when New Holland Brewing Co. opens). You're going to have to find a pedestrian-friendly environment."



RELATED: Parking ramp, city lots could serve New Holland Brewing customers

The New Holland project continues to move through various city approval processes, including an upcoming hearing on brownfield financing. The project planned at Bridge and Turner Avenue NW already has gotten a waiver so that it does not have to provide any on-site parking.

With no parking on site, many customers may park in city lots south of Bridge and then cross the street to get the brewery, Shaffer said. A shared street on Bridge, perhaps from Turner to Seward or Lexington avenues, might make the corridor more accommodating to pedestrians as the brewery opens and other area properties redevelop, he said.

The shared street in Chicago is founded on the premise that roads are public spaces with a "modal hierarchy" that prioritizes people first, then public transit, then bicycles and then automobiles, Attarian said.

"If you think of your roads this way, it changes how you approach the design," she said.

Here's an example of a shared street in Seattle, with a few more examples below. They each exhibit different variations of the same theme of shared access.

The more Grand Rapids leaders see city streets primarily as public space and secondarily as motor traffic corridors, the better, said Josh Leffingwell, vice-chairman of the Vital Streets Oversight Commission charged with guiding how revenue from a 15-year Grand Rapids streets tax gets spent.

But any changes to Bridge must be mindful of buses that serve the area, he said.

There's also a city fire station along that stretch of Bridge.

Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.