Project will complete US-131, Business 131 interchange

David Horak
·3 min read
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — This week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a supplemental spending bill that will fully fund a Kalamazoo County project meant to complete an interchange between two major highways.

A project expected to break ground in the spring of 2025 will connect US-131 with Business 131. (Courtesy state of Michigan)
A project expected to break ground in the spring of 2025 will add two ramps between US-131 and Business 131. (Courtesy state of Michigan)

The project will add a ramp from northbound US-131 onto the eastbound Business 131 route and a second ramp from the business route onto southbound US-131.

Ever since its construction, drivers on northbound US-131 were not able to go onto the eastbound Business 131, nor could they head west on the business route and merge onto southbound US-131. Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Nick Schirripa explained those who architected the original design intended it to be that way.

“The idea was that it was moving industrial traffic, for the most part, from the north side of Kalamazoo north toward Grand Rapids, paper mills in Plainwell or other industries north of that,” he said.

But the audience that design catered to eventually saw Business 131 no longer serving them, which dealt major blows to nearby cities and townships, like Cooper Township.

“There were a lot of businesses and industries that moved out because you’ve got to go two miles north and then back two miles south if you want to end up going east or west on I-94, or go through (the city of Kalamazoo),” said Cooper Township Supervisor Jeff Sorensen. “With the new bike lanes … then having all of that truck traffic going through Kalamazoo, those are, I think, some things that really helped push this along.”

According to Schirripa, talks to complete the interchange started more than 20 years ago, but were halted when then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm paused all expansion projects statewide.

“So we were kind of forced to sit on our hands,” Schirripa explained. “Not only did we not have the funding overall — hence the pause on expansion projects — we were looking at other priorities. We were trying to keep our roads in good shape. We were trying to repair what we had instead of adding to our inventory.”

This week, Whitmer’s supplemental spending bill filled the $3.9 million gap needed to officially greenlight the project, mainly pushed by local governments, state Rep. Julie Rogers, D-Kalamazoo, and state Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo.

“We have crossed the finish line. Now it’s just a matter of standing up on the podium and wrapping a gold medal around a couple of folks for getting us here,” Schirripa said.

Sorensen added, “The economic viability it’s going to give for the Northside … Kalamazoo Township and, above all, the city of Parchment, is going to help out tremendously.”

According to Schirripa, the project is in the finishing touches of the design phase before going up for bids late next year. They expect groundbreaking to be in spring 2025, with work taking about a year to finish.

“We are building two ramps that don’t exist,” he added. “They don’t have live traffic on them for us to have to detour, so that makes it a little bit easier … so that shortens the timetable a little bit.”

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