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Made In Walker
The Made In Walker Podcast connects you to the people, stories, and ideas shaping our community. From local innovators to everyday change makers, we are diving deep into what makes Walker Michigan a great place to live, work, and grow.
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Made In Walker
Fruit Ridge Bridge Open, Watch Walker Go.
A bottleneck that lasted decades is finally gone, and you can feel the difference the first time you cross it. We bring together MDOT’s John Richard and Walker City Engineer Scott Connors to unpack how the new Fruit Ridge Bridge and interchange deliver safer travel, smoother access to jobs, and real options for people walking and biking. From two skinny lanes to a five-lane span with a 14-foot path and smarter ramp alignments, this is the rare project that makes commutes calmer, business access easier, and neighborhood connections stronger.
We dig into the choices that matter: why modernizing a 1960s-era “hourglass” bridge removes a dangerous pinch point, how aligned ramps and mast-arm signals cut crash risk, and what a center turn lane means for freight-heavy businesses north of the railroad. You’ll also hear how funding unlocked more than a basic rehab; a $25 million state investment and a TAP grant made it possible to rebuild the bridge, reconfigure the interchange, and extend improvements along the corridor. It’s not just infrastructure—it’s a strategy for safety, efficiency, and growth in West Michigan.
Behind the scenes, coordination turned disruption into progress. Transparent updates through social media, email lists, and door-to-door business outreach kept detours manageable and expectations clear. The community showed patience, the contractors delivered ahead of schedule, and local schools even helped celebrate the ribbon cutting. And for anyone who rides or walks, that wide path means your route now continues across the bridge without a white-knuckle squeeze—linking neighborhoods to employers and connecting into trail systems that reach the lakeshore and beyond.
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Welcome to Maiden Walker, the podcast that connects you to the people, the stories, and the ideas shaping our community. From local innovators to everyday change makers, we're diving deep into what makes Walker a great place to live, work, and grow.
SPEAKER_06:So today as we cut this ribbon, let's remember that we're really what we're really celebrating is opportunity. Opportunity for commerce, opportunity for safety, and opportunity for the continued vitality of our great community.
SPEAKER_01:With that, the Fruit Bridge Bridge is now open, but not without years of advocacy, planning, and of course, a lot of patience. But now that it's open, we're kind of looking at how it is reshaping access, jobs, and growth in West Michigan. I'm here with John Richard from Michigan Department of Transportation and Scott Connors, our City of Walker engineer. Thank you both so much for being here. Big players in this bridge project and appreciate you guys giving us your insights.
SPEAKER_03:Well, thanks for having us. Good morning.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So for people who haven't uh driven on it yet, uh, what are the big changes people will notice with this new interchange project?
SPEAKER_03:Well, it went from two lanes to uh five. So there's two lanes in each direction plus that center left turn lane and a big 14-foot-wide pedestrian path on the west side, and then a regular type um width of a sidewalk on the east side. So just the pedestrian connections alone um on this make this a huge project. Um and Scott, you know, I'm sure you have got, you know, uh a different perspective, especially from the business end.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I I I think the pedestrian one is is one that's not really talked about enough. Uh I came in a little bit late this morning to kind of take a slow roll through there and watch traffic, and uh was surprised to see that a uh a biker was actually going northbound to some of the industrial businesses to the north uh in pitch black. Um, but obviously a commuter, and you know, that was a pretty nice feeling to see that on the very first day we had uh actual non-motorized use, which was uh really what that trail's for. It's not just recreation, it's transportation, and it was in operation in day one.
SPEAKER_03:And that's always been a pinch point. I ride my bike all the time. In fact, I rode it here today because I can't stand parking downtown. So I uh took it on the equation with the bicycle. But um bridges are always an issue, uh, especially the old ones, because you can see on the satellite photo, it's got that hourglass shape, right? So to the north there's all that development, the the road was widened, but these bridges are a critical pinch point, um, and they're so expensive to replace. Uh so every time there's a sidewalk or a wide shoulder, if you come to an old bridge, that goes away. You know, you get a narrow shoulder, if a shoulder at all, from these bridges that were built in the 60s. So modernizing these bridges and interchanges is just huge for everybody pedestrians, businesses, vehicles, buses. So uh yeah, we're we're glad that this is finally opened. Because even just two, three years ago, Fruit Ridge has been a discussion. What are we gonna do about this bridge? Because we were it was just gonna be a rehab project, you know, substructure fixes, deck replacement, um, you know, superstructure replacement. So to get this$25 million you know grant from the legislatures, and of course the the tap grant that we got for the um pedestrian path, you know, basically paid for the project and stuff like that. When we have the money, we can really modernize things to help everybody.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, and we actually spoke with Representative Glanville and Senator Heigen Heisenga about the benefits of this new bridge.
SPEAKER_00:It's just it's really truly a shiny example of what can be done when um you know all the branches of government come together, uh public, private, bipartisan, all the pieces come into place. And I mean especially about the bike generality.
SPEAKER_02:You know, when you put 10 years into a project and the kind of information, it's really um such an exciting day for locker of course, but this is a regional impact. And knowing that the eight hours are going to be something that really makes such a big difference, I guess. It's really powerful.
SPEAKER_06:This is multiple mayors, um, state legislators. You know, we've advocated the federal level. Um this is just it's been a journey. So when I use the term surreal, it's like we're we're we ever gonna get here. And we were so close to the finish line of multiple times, and uh just to just to be here and up here. Um, and not only that, but to be on time, on budget, you know, it's the walkerway. I mean, we we did things right here.
SPEAKER_01:We were talking about the bridge design. What has really changed? The last bridge uh had been up for about 60 plus years. What's really changed with um maybe some of the layouts, the design, the infrastructure over the decades?
SPEAKER_07:Well, I can jump in on that. Uh to the north and to the south, we've had tremendous development and we've had multiple road projects. And as John mentioned, the hourglass figure uh design from above, you know, you look down and see the narrow bridge. Uh we had a five-lane road to the north, which allowed for center turn lane for some of the businesses where you might have truck stacking and things. And we actually were able to widen and add a center turn lane further north as well. So this project almost took the shape of three different projects in one with the bridge and interchange. You've got the non-motorized improvements that wrapped all the way around to Kinney. And then to the north, we added that center turn lane, which is going to make it much safer for those businesses that are north of the railroad there.
SPEAKER_01:And they're a critical part of this too, because um the the disruption to not only regular people who are going to and from commuting, but also the businesses. A lot of communication was met to make sure that they understood what the project was, what all went into making sure that they were on board and they knew what was coming, and to just uh, you know, be patient with the project.
SPEAKER_03:Knocking on doors, talking to everybody, talking to the schools. Um, we always have a special project email list that you can sign up for. You can follow us on Twitter. And there's so many different ways you can find out project information. But one like this, you have to have direct contact with the city and the businesses to let them know exactly what's going on. And the our you know, kudos to our contractors for keeping us in the loop on every little change that took place as far as ramp closures, lane closures, total closures, because they just did a total closure of Westbound 96 over the weekend to finish up and paint. So to get it open ahead of schedule. Um yesterday, you know, I think it was about four o'clock it opened up. So yeah, it's a it's a good feeling to look on my drive and see all those barrels uh off the uh off the screen. So it's nice, yeah.
SPEAKER_07:And I think from a communication standpoint, too, uh you did a fantastic job in getting the word out through social media. Um Walker did not have an active role in the design. We were kind of like a silent partner, but we stepped in a lot with the coordination with the public and our business owners. And so really we we were able to hit them from multiple vantage points with a lot of good information to help them so at least they knew what was coming next and how bad it was going to be.
unknown:Sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, they were great with us, you know, especially on social media. This was one of the projects where folks knew what the what they were in for, but there was minimal complaining or pushback. Everybody understood what this was about. So, how does that feel to have a large project like this where you know community is patient, they're on board, and a lot of support behind all of you workers and such.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think people are a lot more patient when it comes to projects like this because you know, a land closure is a land closure, right? So if something's if a land's closed because of a pothole or if it's closed because of an interchange modernization, you know, people are gonna be a little more patient with the uh the big project. So um it is, yeah. Projects like this where there's not many complaints and people really appreciate it, it yeah, it makes you feel good.
SPEAKER_07:And I think the impact on the on the public was uh sometimes we overstate that. I don't think we overstated it in this case. It was like a five-mile detour to get around for folks like uh parents and teachers at Kennewah Hills. And so there was a tremendous amount of extra traffic on Three Mile Road, on Walker Avenue, on Four Mile Road, and then some of the uh more rural roads through Ottawa County because there was a bridge closure over there. So this really impacted a lot of people. And I was getting phone calls and texts from people from my past, old friends and and uh uh folks that just were absolutely so excited and wanted to know with with absolute positivity when it was going to be open so that they could make the first trip uh possible over that trip, over that bridge. Nice.
SPEAKER_01:You you bring up uh the schools, uh you're in Alamada or Ken Kenwa Hills. So when we did this uh ribbon cutting, you were insistent, let's have the band be part of this celebration. Why was that so important?
SPEAKER_03:Well, they're just down the road. Um, so of course you all know I went there. Class of 89, thank you. So I called the high school up and I said, Hey, do you guys want to help us, you know, cut this ribbon? And they said, Heck yeah, we'll be there. So two busloads show up, and all the kids were excited to be, you know, out of school on a Friday. Um Nate Rowron, who I went to school with, is now the principal there. He was two years ahead of me uh in my uh sister's uh class of 1987. So it was like a little reunion, and I dug out the varsity jacket, and so it was good. And now, of course, we had uh the mayor, uh the senator, and um representative Glanville. So it was a great turnout.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. And Kenwood's been such a great partner to us. Jerry Hopkins, the uh superintendent over there, is always engaged, shows up for a lot of our meetings to talk about projects and be aware. He's just a great part of the community.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you really can't understate the communication, uh, the great job that you all did reaching out to the community. And um the celebration, it's not every day you have a ribbon cutting of a major infrastructure project like this. So there was a lot of to do about this. What can you tell folks just about why it's important to celebrate these types of projects? It wasn't just kind of, hey, look at me type thing. This is this was important.
SPEAKER_03:Well, there's so many players involved. You know, the contractors, the subcontractors, the state, the city, our consultants. Um, there's so there's so many players involved that uh to see it come to fruition like this. And you know, again, we've got a short window of construction in Michigan, right? So to get it done on time, on schedule, in about what, seven or eight months, you know, kudos to uh to everyone involved.
SPEAKER_07:And it really was a dream team that was put together to make this happen. It happened in about half the time it would normally take in terms of the design and construction. But you know, mdot stepped up and put their best staff people on it. Um there were a lot of people engaged in this, in the in the rapid design and the prep for the the bidding and construction. Um we ended up with probably the best contractor in the area for a project like this with Kamaga and RootVoots. Um they've done some wonderful uh project projects with us that we thought were uh nearly impossible, and then they pull it off and uh without a hitch. So they did a great job again, right down to the very last minute. Um every member of their team was out there working to get it clean and get it ready, uh, and they came through.
SPEAKER_03:And we took a visit a couple weeks ago, um, and uh the asphalt was still hot. I'm like, you guys gonna be ready in a couple of weeks? And they say, Oh yeah, we'll be ready. So, but yeah, there was barrels everywhere and trucks and uh a lot of cleanup to do, and they had a they had a lot to do over the weekend to get it open by yesterday.
SPEAKER_01:Wow, yeah. A lot of a lot of work goes on behind the scenes that we don't see. We just gotta be patient. Um, any uh, you know, briefly, are there any things that people may not see that were uh part of the bridge infrastructure, like better drainage, things that really improve the area for the next sets you up for the next several decades?
SPEAKER_07:Um I might say that the interchange reconfiguration for the on and off ramps was was a really big component of this. Yeah. Because the when you were going eastbound from let's like Muskegon, Coopersville, um, you would have to get off to three mile road before. And that was offset from Fruit Ridge just enough so that it was uh impacted by left-turning vehicles and stacking vehicles. And so oftentimes people would have to sit and wait there to be able to turn out. And that turns into car accidents when somebody says, Come on, go across, and uh somebody else says, No, I'm going through. Um, so that has been totally eliminated now, and we've got more of the conventional design, easier to understand. It's got uh nice, beautiful mast arm traffic signals, and so and that happened on the north side as well, where the the ramps were aligned and it created a little bit of a tighter interchange, but certainly more efficient.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, that is great, safer, easier to access, just what we needed for the community, hopefully setting us up for the next several decades. Thank you both so much for your insights. Really appreciate it, and congratulations on uh a pretty big project completed and wrapped up.
SPEAKER_03:I'm excited to use those trails. Yeah, 40 miles to the west of the lake shore, and then all the way up to Cadillac. So, yeah, it's a great connection.
SPEAKER_07:And another great successful partnership with right on, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Love it. Thank you both so much. Really appreciate you being here. Thank you for tuning in.
SPEAKER_05:Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Maiden Walker Podcast. If you have comments or questions about this podcast, or if you have suggestions for future episodes, we'd love to hear from you. Please drop us an email at podcast at walker.city. Maiden Walker is the official podcast of the city of Walker, Michigan. You can find Maiden Walker wherever you get your podcasts.
