By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph City Manager Bryan Carter sees new opportunities for access to downtown in the proposed changes to the I-229 double decker bridge.
Carter says good access and the same accesses to downtown today are totally different things, but bringing entirely different ways into downtown presents good opportunities
"One of the pieces that's been talked about is an extension of St. Joseph Avenue to the, instead of it kind of merging into 229, extending it to the west in a way that would attach to McArthur," Carter tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Carter says it would also create an opportunity to get off the roadway and being able to go left on St. Joseph Avenue and onto McArthur Drive and coming in under the bridges into downtown
"That's not a way we even think about, or even dream about, getting into downtown now," Carter says. "But once you look at it on a map, it can create a really cool kind of corridor."
Carter says the plan could also bring some new life to the corridor that currently enters onto McArthur Drive.
Carter says lowering the current double decker bridge to ground level could provide new access points into downtown St. Joseph, livening up several city corridors into downtown.
Another one of those corridors, Carter says, is on sixth street, connecting the current 229 corridor onto sixth street farther south than it currently is.
"Which creates a lot of opportunity because sixth street is something of a blank canvas, there's a lot of opportunity right through there," Carter explains.
Carter says that area provides a lot of potential for new and exciting access into downtown St. Joseph
"So, it's not the same jump off the highway and be on Edmond Street, but there's a lot of potential for new and exciting things," Carter says.
The most popular plan for renovations on 229 would involve getting rid of the current double decker bridge, bringing the road to ground level. The new plan would also get rid of the interstate designation