The Blake Transit Center closed May 3, altering the commutes of Ann Arbor community members who utilize the stop for TheRide’s fleet of buses. The closure — which is expected to last for the remainder of the calendar year — is accommodating construction on the Downtown Development Authority’s Fourth Avenue Street & Transit Improvements project. The project comes as the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority plans to improve bus services through TheRide 2045 plan.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, DDA Executive Director Maura Thomson wrote the construction on Fourth Avenue will improve accessibility and safety for passengers of TheRide.
“The project has many features that improve accessibility including widened sidewalks, improved lighting, crosswalk improvements, audible pedestrian signals, and tactile pavers in the walking zone at crosswalk and driveway approaches,” Thomson wrote. “A much-needed midblock crosswalk will be added; this crosswalk will feature audible pedestrian signals and RRFB’s (rectangular rapid flashing beacons).”
The DDA began renovation efforts in 2020, when the People-Friendly Streets program began its second investigation of potential infrastructure improvements by gathering community feedback. The redesign of Fourth Avenue intends to improve transit and create a more connected community. In 2023, the DDA board approved a contract with the design firm SmithGroup to develop the project.
Following renovation closures, TheRide temporarily moved bus stops and its sales location north of Blake Transit Center— closer to the intersection of South Fifth Avenue and East Washington Street. In an interview with The Daily, Taubman rising sophomore Alexei Sanoff, Urbanism Club programming lead, said the city is trying to minimize inconveniences to residents despite construction.
“TheRide has very cleverly timed this closure such that it begins right after most students, including myself, have left,” Sanoff said.“They will have fewer dedicated facilities, so no waiting room, no dedicated ramps for the bus to wait at. I think that they’ve secured some space and (tried)streamline their operations so they will minimize the impact.”
Sanoff said one of the most important parts of the project is the sewer and maintenance work the city will complete on Fourth Avenue, even though it might not be as noticeable to residents.
“Coordinating multiple infrastructure projects in the same construction window minimizes hassle,” Sanoff said. “Those sewer mains are going to be really useful because there’s so many new large buildings going up in downtown, and those are the sort of things that overstrain utilities.”
One new building to be constructed is the 350 S. Fifth Ave. affordable housing development, which the city plans to build in the parking lot directly south of the transit center.
In an email to The Daily, Mariam Majeed, public affairs and marketing generalist for TheRide, wrote while this project does not include construction to BTC, TheRide is preparing for future improvements to make the bus system more accessible to residents.
“A future project will expand the platform of the Blake Transit Center to wrap around the entire building, including four new bus bays on the southside of the building,” Majeed wrote. “While there are currently no plans for a new transit center, TheRide continuously evaluates ridership trends and community needs to guide future investments in transit infrastructure and system improvements.”
Majeed wrote that improvements to BTC reflect the broader goals of TheRide 2045, the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s plan to improve the bus system and increase ridership, which was approved in 2022.
“TheRide 2045 is focused on building a more connected, frequent, and reliable transit system that supports growth across the region,” Majeed wrote. “Investments in core infrastructure, like the streets and pedestrian areas around the BTC, are essential to making that vision possible. This project supports those goals by improving access to one of our system’s primary hubs, which strengthens the overall network.”
TheRide 2045 aims to increase frequency for all existing routes, expand operation hours and prioritize integrating Bus Rapid Transit design, with buses arriving every five minutes during peak hours on busy roads such as Washtenaw Avenue, Huron Street, Jackson Avenue and Plymouth Road. Implementing Bus Rapid Transit could include upgrades such as coordination with traffic signals, dedicated bus lanes — like the new addition on State Street — and queue jump signals, which allow buses to advance ahead of traffic before the light turns green for other vehicles.
Over the next decade, TheRide plans to carry out this proposal via four different implementation stages. Stage one, which will take place over the next two years, consists of strengthening the foundation for enhanced public transit by increasing service frequency, elongating operation hours and planning the design for Bus Rapid Transit.
Starting in 2029, TheRide will begin stage two of its long-term plan. Stage two includes prioritizing service in Ann Arbor residential areas with less access to public transit and increasing the efficiency of popular routes through Bus Rapid Transit design.
In addition to the city’s project around BTC, TheRide plans to upgrade the Ypsilanti Transit Center to accommodate more riders. In an interview with The Daily, Raymond Hess, manager of project management and delivery at TheRide, said TheRide wants to decrease the amount of people who use both BTC and YTC by introducing smaller transit centers throughout the bus network. Hess said the implementation of smaller transit centers may help make trips faster and decrease congestion from connecting routes.
“There’s also this call for more transit hubs, so the idea is maybe not full-blown buildings — maybe not something on the scale of the BTC or the YTC — but we would have these other opportunities,,” Hess said. “If you know our system now, everything goes into the two transit centers, like the spokes on a wheel, and then goes back out. If we can create other little parts of the spoke — other little hubs — then people might be able to make single-seat trips instead of coming into the Blake Transit Center.”
TheRide receives funding from local taxes and a millage approved by local voters in 2022. Sanoff said increasing TheRide’s resources and continuing city support through projects — like the Fourth Avenue Street & Transit Improvements project — will increase ridership and improve bus services.
“TheRide does a pretty good job of making efficient use of what they have, but I think that they don’t have enough, and I think that ridership is decent, but not amazing, but that’s partly a consequence of services not being good enough,” Sanoff said. “I think the city of Ann Arbor would do well to try to incentivize people parking on the outskirts of Ann Arbor and then riding the bus into downtown, because that makes downtown nicer.”
Daily News Editor Dominic Apap can be reached at dapap@umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Valeria Jurado can be reached at vjurad@umich.edu.
