GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — ArtPrize begins in Grand Rapids Thursday and with it’ll come tens of 1000’s of individuals packing the streets and venues.
In case you are unfamiliar with downtown, understanding the place to park, what modes of transportation can be found, and the simplest methods to get round may be difficult.
Here’s a information that can assist you navigate your go to to downtown Grand Rapids throughout ArtPrize.
PARKING
Parking may be one of the vital worrying components of your ArtPrize journey. There are many city-owned and privately-owned parking ramps in downtown Grand Rapids. That would be the most costly however best choice.
One other parking choice is avenue parking. The town has 1000’s of metered parking areas all through downtown Grand Rapids.
The best method to pay is to obtain the MOTU app. It’s accessible on Android and iOS units. You may also use the internet app.
From the app, you’ll be able to choose your parking spot, plug in your automobile and bank card info and you might be in your manner. One other useful function of the MOTU app is it’ll ship alerts to your telephone when your parking is about to run out.
When you select avenue parking, there are additionally pay stations near the meters the place you’ll be able to pay.
Most meters are monitored Monday by Friday from 8 a.m. to five p.m. or 6 p.m. Some meters are checked after 6 p.m., and on Saturdays, nonetheless, the town has these marked with indicators. Most of these are discovered alongside Monroe Heart, which is usually shut down on weekends for ArtPrize.
DASH: DOWNTOWN AREA SHUTTLE
The most cost effective method to park in case you are planning an all-day journey to ArtPrize is to park on the town’s west facet in one of many city-owned heaps.
DASH Space 7 is positioned at 301 Mt. Vernon Avenue NW and DASH Space 9 is positioned at 250 Seward Avenue NW. Parking at one of many DASH heaps is $2.
After you park your automobile, you’ll be able to hop on one of many two DASH routes that run each quarter-hour: DASH West and DASH North.
The DASH West route encompasses Grand Rapids’ West Aspect, Monroe Heart and Heartside neighborhoods. It contains stops on the YMCA, Kendall Faculty of Artwork & Design, Van Andel Area and Bridge Avenue Market.
DASH North covers the Creston, Metropolis Heart and Medical Mile areas. It contains stops at DeVos Place, Downtown Market, Founders Brewing Co. and Belknap Park.
The DASH runs from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday by Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Extra details about DASH parking heaps and shuttles may be discovered on-line.
E-SCOOTERS AND E-BIKES
As soon as once more, this 12 months, scooters and e-bikes are choices for guests in downtown Grand Rapids to make use of to get round ArtPrize.
This 12 months there is just one choice, Lime. It would be best to obtain the Lime app to unlock the e-bikes and scooters.
Bear in mind, neither the bikes nor the scooters are supposed to be ridden on the sidewalks. They’re presupposed to be ridden within the bike lanes, and customers should put on helmets.
Make sure that to park your e-bike or scooter again in a single designated space as soon as you might be carried out utilizing it.
RIDE THE RAPID
Lastly, if you happen to don’t need to mess with driving downtown and parking for ArtPrize, Fast buses from all around the metropolis commute to Fast Central Station in downtown Grand Rapids, supplying you with entry to ArtPrize.
Take into account downloading the transit app on your telephone. With the app, you’ll be able to take a look at all of the totally different bus routes and observe how lengthy it will likely be till a bus reaches your cease.
CONSTRUCTION
Development season has not but wrapped up in West Michigan. So it ought to come as no shock there may be building that would complicate your journey to ArtPrize.
Probably the most vital impression undertaking is the one that’s presently shutting down the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Fulton Avenue. The undertaking prevents entry to downtown by way of the Fulton Avenue bridge. As a substitute, drivers should cross the river downtown by both utilizing the Pearl Avenue or Rich Avenue bridges.
One other undertaking that can gradual drivers coming in from northwestern Kent County together with drivers from Ottawa and Muskegon counties is the ramp closure from eastbound I-96 to southbound US-131. The posted detour for this undertaking is eastbound I-96 to Plainfield Avenue, then get again on westbound I-96 and take the exit to southbound US-131.
Lastly, in case you are driving in from jap Kent County or Ionia County utilizing I-96, there’s a building undertaking that can doubtless add time to your drive. There are lane closures alongside eastbound and westbound I-96 between Whitneyville Avenue and thirty sixth Avenue that causes slowdowns and backups.
