City Commission approves development of Grand Rapids Mobility Blueprint, City's first long-range transportation plan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Grand Rapids is taking a major step toward shaping how people move around the city for decades to come. The Grand Rapids City Commission today approved work on the Grand Rapids Mobility Blueprint, the city's first-ever long-range transportation plan. The blueprint will chart a 20-year vision for how people and goods move safely and reliably through Grand Rapids. It builds on the direction set in the 2024 Community Master Plan (CMP): Bridge to Our Future. Rather than starting over, the project will draw on the extensive community input and technical work already completed through the CMP and other City and partner-agency plans, using that foundation to guide a more detailed, implementation-focused strategy.
Jessica Smith, Mobile GR director, said the new plan marks a major moment for the city. “The Mobility Blueprint is a milestone for Grand Rapids,” she said. “For the first time, we will have a long-range, citywide plan that ties our transportation investments directly to the vision our community helped set through the Community Master Plan. This is about making sure every dollar we invest in our streets and mobility network is working toward a clear, shared, 20-year vision."
Over the next two years, the project will include a citywide transportation network assessment; a data-driven methodology for prioritizing future projects; concepts and cost estimates for major corridors; and a funding and implementation strategy that connects recommendations to the City's capital improvement planning. The result will be a public-facing Mobility Blueprint document that sets a clear roadmap for future transportation investment across the city.
Community and stakeholder engagement will be a central part of the process. Mobile GR will lead a citywide engagement effort in three waves over the life of the project, building on the robust public input already gathered through the Community Master Plan and other recent planning efforts rather than repeating that outreach. Engagement will include coordination with a project Steering Committee and partner agencies, along with accessible, multilingual materials designed to reach residents across the city.
Max Gilles, the project manager, said the plan will honor the community’s past involvement while building toward the future. "We are building this plan on a strong foundation of past planning and community engagement, not starting over. Our approach is designed to respect the input residents have already given us, while digging deeper into the data to prioritize the right projects in the right places. We are looking forward to continuing that conversation with the community as this work gets underway,” he said.
Mobile GR expects to begin work with T.Y. Lin International Great Lakes, Inc. in the coming weeks, with community engagement opportunities to follow. The 24-month contract, not to exceed $499,901.60, will be funded through Mobile GR’s Parking Services Fund.
For more information on the Grand Rapids Mobility Blueprint, visit the City of Grand Rapids' Mobile GR Department website or contact 311 Customer Service at 616-456-3000 or 311.
About Mobile GR
Mobile GR is the City of Grand Rapids' transportation department, responsible for managing the city's parking system, downtown mobility programs and multi-modal transportation initiatives. Mobile GR's mission is to provide accessible, sustainable and equitable mobility options for residents, employees and visitors in Grand Rapids.
