Midland council backs a grant bid for a protected bike lane and path on Rodd Street

MIDLAND, Mich. — Midland will seek federal money to add a protected two-way bike lane and a separated path along Rodd Street after the City Council approved a resolution supporting the grant application Monday, Oct. 12.

The vote was 4-1, the Midland Daily News reported, with Councilman Tim Soler opposed. Soler argued the change would slow traffic and that sidewalks already serve people traveling without a car, according to the newspaper.

The city is applying to the Michigan Department of Transportation for a Transportation Alternatives Program grant, a federal source for walking and biking projects. The grant would cover 80% of the cost of the bike route, leaving the city a 20% local match now estimated at $1,160,000, Assistant City Manager Jacob Kain wrote in a letter to City Manager Brad Kaye included in the council packet. The city would also pay for all work tied only to the street reconstruction and water main replacement. The Daily News put the cost of the full Rodd Street project at $15.7 million.

Concept plans show a two-way protected bike lane between Ann and Ellsworth streets, then a paved path 10 feet wide, set apart from traffic, between Ellsworth and Cambridge streets. The consulting firm OHM drew the plans for the Midland Area Transportation Study as part of a planning pilot program with MDOT, Kain wrote. The newspaper reported the design would reduce Rodd Street from three vehicle lanes to two.

According to the council resolution, the route would connect the riverfront, the Grand Curve and Pere Marquette trails, downtown and Midtown Midland, Central Park Elementary, Central Park, the Greater Midland Community Center, the Law Enforcement Center, the post office and Center City.

The bike work would be built during a planned reconstruction of Rodd Street from Buttles Street to Cambridge Street, which also replaces water main from Buttles to Nelson Street. Construction is tentatively planned for 2029, after MDOT finishes work on Business Route US-10 in 2027 and the city rebuilds South Saginaw Road from Dartmouth Drive to Manor Drive in 2028, Kain wrote.

Monday’s vote does not guarantee the project. If the grant is awarded, final engineering and environmental reviews would follow before construction. The city shared the concept plans at a 2025 open house and through an online survey, and the council discussed them at its January goal-setting session.

Sources:
City of Midland, City Council agenda packet, Oct. 12, 2026, item “Transportation Alternatives Program Grant for Rodd Street” (letter of transmittal and resolution), https://www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10122026-3164
Midland Daily News, “Midland Council backs $15.7M Rodd Street project,” October 2026, https://www.ourmidland.com/community/article/rodd-street-lane-reduction-midland-22474391.php
Photo: National Transportation Safety Board (Ivan Cheung), “Separated bike lane - Washington DC (49172814558).jpg,” 2019, Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Separated_bike_lane_-_Washington_DC_(49172814558).jpg

Midland

Tags: Midland · News · City Council · Rodd Street · Bike Lanes · MDOT