EMU proposes pedestrian plaza

Overwhelmed by passionate exuberance, the university's interim director of finance predicts that the proposed closing of College Place to vehicular traffic as "an outstanding opportunity to improve the interface on the southeastern corner of our campus."

The article's brief descripition sounds similar to the pedestrianization of East University in Ann Arbor a few years back. The project would eliminate metered parking on this stretch of road and limit access to bikes and pedestrians.

The city and U seem to be generally in sync on this project. Questions linger as to how, exactly, the parking will be replaced and who will cover the 20% of costs to match federal level grants.

While the project sounds "nice" and is well supported, one might wonder how this will fit into the existing or future plans for pedestrian and bike facilities and policies in Ypsi.

Is this a benefit to carfree folks in Ypsi, or just a well decorated yard that adds little to the non-motorized network in town?