Why has there been “sidewalk closed” signs on Fourth Ave between Huron and Washington?

Because it needs to be repaired.

Why is it taking so long?

Money and complications.

Click here to read more.

AnnArbor.Com reports that the City of Ann Arbor recently acquired some federal stimulus dollars that will allow for some new bike lanes near downtown Ann Arbor.

The locations of these new bike lanes will be along Catherine Street, North University Avenue, Ashley Street and First Street.

Since many people feel better about biking when bike lanes are present, these new additions should be a good move.

Click here to read the entire article.

Well here’s a clue that fall is almost upon us: The Students are Coming (Back)!

If you work close to a student housing area, you might want to know about some traffic pattern changes happening for the Student Move-In, happening Sept 1 at 6am until Sept 3 at 10pm.

Student Move-In traffic pattern changes

Thompson – One way southbound from East Jefferson to Packard
Madison – One way eastbound from South Division to South State
East Washington – One way westbound from Fletcher to South State – meters bagged
Maynard – Meters bagged from Jefferson to East William
East University – Meters bagged from Hill to Willard
Willard – from Church to East University

For those of you who work in the Kerrytown area of Ann Arbor,  you might have noticed some new signs going up.

These are residential parking signs and they mean that only people with residental parking permits can park at those spaces for more than 2 hours 8am-6pm Monday-Saturday.  The residential parking district will go into effect on Sunday, August 15, 2010.

Click here for information on Residential Parking Permits from the City of Ann Arbor.

So if you used to park in these spaces (On State, Ann, Thayer, Kingsley, etc).  You might need to find another option.  Click here for a map of the parking spaces being impacted by this change.

Of course, getDowntown is more than happy to help you explore your other options, many of which are free.

If you have a question about your downtown commuting options, please let us know by clicking here.

FYI from the AATA:

Three bus boarding locations at the Blake Transit Center (BTC) will be relocated on Wednesday, August 4 due to the closing of Fifth Avenue around the underground parking lot construction next to the main library.

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (TheRide) has announced that Routes 1, 15 and 18 will board passengers along the west side of Fourth Avenue just north of William Street next to the Fourth and William parking structure. Passengers are encouraged to use the crosswalk at William to access these new stops.

According to officials of TheRide, an agreement with the City of Ann Arbor will allow some route buses to access their usual stops in the mall area of the transit center by utilizing a portion of Fifth Avenue going northbound to the BTC mall driveway.

As traffic or project conditions change, additional boarding locations may need to be relocated onto Fourth Avenue. A second phase of this project, and additional relocations, may begin as early as spring 2011.

All routes operated by TheRide will be delayed and/or detoured during the Fifth Avenue construction project.

Beginning August 1, Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12B, 13, 17 and 18 heading into downtown Ann Arbor and Routes 17 and 18 leaving the BTC will be placed on detour.

Click here for more information on detours.

Updates on the boarding locations and a list of out-of-service bus stops and nearest stops in service will be available at www.TheRide.org or by calling 734.996.0400.

Just FYI starting August 1, 2010 South Fifth Avenue between Liberty and William Streets will be closed for the Underground Parking Structure construction.

Please click here for information on detours, access to the Library and other details during this closure.

Click here for information on AATA bus detours during this time.

Concentrate Magazine recently wrote an article about a Jove employee (a MA-based company) who recently moved to downtown Ann Arbor with his wife and is now telecommuting to work.

Why telecommute in downtown Ann Arbor?  Here’s what the employee has to say:

They choose to live in downtown Ann Arbor because it provided a quality urban experience where they could live practically car-free. As Mark puts it, “not having a vehicle is awesome.”

That’s what I like to hear!

While we might not be as big of a city as Toronto, we certainly have to deal with cycling with traffic.  Biking Toronto is providing a series of 10 “secrets” (not really secrets but definitely great tips) for biking in traffic.

Click here for a rundown of all of the Secrets.

Read on and stay safe!

Want to go to Top of the Park or a Summer Fest event but don’t want to deal with driving and parking?

This year, instead of driving to the Summer Festival, you can take the BTB Party Bus.

Click here for all the details.

From the BTB website:

BTB Party Bus is proud to partner up with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival to provide GREEN transportation for groups of all sizes to and from all Summer Festival events.

Besides giving you a carbon-neutral way to get to Top of the Park (BTB Party Bus runs on waste vegetable oil from your favorite Ann Arbor area restaurants), riding the buses will also give you a way to donate back to the festival – $.50 will be donated for every person that rides the bus!

Click here to view rates and service area

Want to know about Traffic Detours?  One place to check is AnnArbor.Com with the tag traffic detours.