Ludington council to consider closure of downtown alley.

Ludington council to consider closure of downtown alley.

#LudingtonNews.

LUDINGTON — The City Council will consider, during its regular meeting Monday, a request from the Ludington Downtown Development Authority Board to close a major downtown alley to vehicular traffic. The alley is located on the south side of the 100 block of Ludington Avenue between Rath Avenue and James Street. In a memo to City Council, Community Development Director Heather Tykoski stated the DDA board was approached by business owners to “help address the safety of the deteriorating alley…”

Tykoski said the committee is proposing to close the alley, on a trial basis, to public vehicular traffic and to allow business owners “to create a pedestrian friendly environment in the area now occupied by the alley.”

The proposal states that property owners would still be able to access existing parking spaces behind their buildings via the west entrance from the city parking lot. No delivery service vehicles would be allowed. The temporary closure would remain in effect until Oct. 31, 2019, and will be evaluated at that time.

Property owners would pay the cost to repave the alley.

Specific safety concerns of the alley were not addressed in the memo.

The topic to approve the request is on the agenda for the City Council’s regular meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25 at city hall, 400 S. Harrison St.