Grand Rapids Is Changing Its Stoplights – What To Know

A few months ago, I wrote an article about the potential of a fourth new color being added to stoplights based on a research paper from North Carolina State University. That article generated quite an uproar on our Facebook page.

Thankfully, these are not the lights being added, but what is being changed in Downtown Grand Rapids is a change that demonstrates just how rapidly (no pun intended) our city is growing from a city planning standpoint.

Bikes and Scooters Change The Landscape

Anyone who has visited downtown GR in the last couple of years is very aware of the Uber Lime electric scooters and bikes that are scattered around the city. The addition of this mode of transportation has fundamentally changed the way people get around the city.

As a result, bike lanes have been added to more and more areas of the city. Now, the next step in that process has come to fruition: bike lights. Stoplights containing turn lights and specific signals for bikers have been added to the intersection at Leonard Street NW and Turner Avenue NW, just before the onramp to US-131 South.

READ MORE: Nobody In Grand Rapids Rides The Scooters Correctly |

This light is the first of many that have been approved for the city, with more lights expected to be installed by 2026. A sign (no pun intended, again) of a growing city is infrastructure changes like these.

With all the large construction projects taking place around Grand Rapids, it's a special time to live here.