Remembering Our Pain! The S-Curve Rebuild Was 24 Years Ago!

Here is a blast from the past! This is really hard to believe, but the big S-Curve reconstruction, because is was wearing out, was 24-years ago! Holy Cow, where did the years go?

Most of us remember it well with traffic totally shut down on north and southbound 131 beginning in January, 2000. What a pain it was, with over 115,000 vehicles moving over 131 and through downtown every day, all diverted to other roads. Oh, the horror of it all.

But, it had to be done since the expressway, which was built in the early 60s, needed the failing S-Curve totally rebuilt.

THE S-CURVE 

Funny thing, do you remember the wonderful addition to the S-Curve that was the talk of MDOT? It was the de-icing system. The website, Strong Town GR talked about the system designed to spray a de-icing fluid on the roadway that would be carried by car tires up to a mile along the road surface. That system, as I recall, lasted one or two years before it pooped out. Then, goodbye de-icing.

I think to everyone's astonishment though, the rebuild of the S-Curve was completed ahead of time and our stressful lives, and tempers were eased. Life was good again.

DOWNTOWN GRAND RAPIDS 1955

Before the late 50s, there wasn't an expressway moving through Grand Rapids at all. Thinking about that now, traffic had to be a complete bottle neck getting through the city going either north or south.

BUILDING 131 DOWNTWON IN 1962

The 131 expressway was built in stages. The big Grand Rapids part, coming through downtown with the famed and detested S-Curve, completed in December, 1962. Everyone knew that wasn't enough however, because Grand Rapids and Kent County was expanding north and it needed the expressway to keep going.

131 EXPRESSWAY IN 1962

Now that the new repairs have been made and our 2024 travel lives are somewhat back to normal, can we breath a sigh of relief? Probably not. We'll just sit here and wait for the next big repair project.