Birmingham project selected for grant funding

BIRMINGHAM — The city of Birmingham’s South Eton Road Bike Lanes project was recently selected to receive a Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Transportation Alternative Program grant of $2,231,297.

TAP grants are federal funds that are given to the state and distributed to large metropolitan planning organizations, such as SEMCOG. For this grant, SEMCOG seeks projects for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and transportation-related stormwater management projects.

City Engineer Melissa Coatta said in an email that the South Eton Road Bike Lanes project will include bike lanes and road improvements from 14 Mile to Maple Road.  In addition to the new bike lanes from 14 Mile Road to East Lincoln, the existing bike lanes from East Lincoln to Yosemite will be paved. Additionally, Coatta said the roadway will be resurfaced and there will be sewer improvements and water main replacement.

The total project cost is estimated to be over $5 million.

“The city adopted a multi-modal transportation plan which includes bicycling and locations for implantation in the City,” Coatta said.

She added that the 2040 master plan expands and refines the recommendation from the multi-modal transportation plan.

From fall 2025 through spring 2026, the city will be in the project design phase. Construction — along South Eton, between Maple and 14 Mile — is planned to begin in the summer of 2026. Due to construction during the project, there will be lane closures.

Brian Pawlik, a planner at SEMCOG, said, “When a community like Birmingham can create bicycle lanes by parsing out part of the roadway, reclaiming some of that space for safe mobility, it’s a great advantage, and it’s something that we like to see within those more-developed communities that might not have the space for a full, shared-use path.”

Pawklik later added, “If there is any other community that is interested in funding a transportation-related bicycle and pedestrian project or stormwater project, feel free to reach out to me, because SEMCOG would be happy to help with communities in regards to realizing their goals and visions.”

More information on the TAP grant can be found at semcog.org/transportation-alternatives-program-tap.