GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A long-planned bicycle route from Wealthy Street SW to Riverside Park is set for construction next year.

The Grand Rapids City Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 3, will consider local funding for the $1.1 million Seward Bikeway.

The scheduled work to connect the Kent Trails with the White Pine Trail by filling in gaps in bike infrastructure includes shared-lane markings, or “sharrows,” on Straight Avenue from Wealthy to Butterworth streets; bike lanes on Butterworth from Straight to Lexington/Seward Avenue and on Lexington/Seward from Butterworth to Fulton Street; an asphalt path from Leonard to Richmond streets; a mix of sharrows and bike lanes from Richmond to Ann Street along Elizabeth Avenue, and on Ann over the Grand River to Riverside Park.

Click the “view full size” option below left to see a map of the project.

Plans also call for a rest area along the off-street path just north of Leonard.

"This bikeway will feature a variety of facilities including on-street bike lanes, shared-lane markings and multi-use path," said Tom Tilma, executive director of the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition. "It's one of the most important corridors on the city's bicycle facilities map."

Tilma said coalition traffic counts are finding an increase in bike riders along parts of Seward that already have bike lanes. The new lanes, sharrows and path will provide “more convenient and safer connections” between the two trails, he said.

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Among the funding sources: $620,000 federal grant, $397,000 in city money, $38,000 from the Downtown Development Authority, $5,000 from PeopleForBikes.

“This project supports the city’s Green Grand Rapids and the Complete Streets goals to construct and/or enhance non-motorized transportation facilities, provide connectivity to the non-motorized trail network (including the non-motorized transportation component of the Seward Avenue Extension Project that was completed in 2011), and enables safe, convenient, and comfortable travel for all users,” City Engineer Mark De Clercq wrote in a memo to the commission.

“The project will provide an important connection from Kent Trails to White Pine Trail, primarily on the West side of Grand Rapids.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation is scheduled to receive construction bids on the bikeway Friday, Dec. 6.

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