page_title: Capitol Loop
section_title: Reconstruction controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Capitol Loop / History / Reconstruction controversy
caption_attribution_description: English: Michigan State Government between Allegan and Ottawa streets in Lansing.
context_page_description: The Capitol Loop is a state trunkline highway running through Lansing, Michigan, in the United States that was commissioned on October 13, 1989. It forms a loop route off Interstate 496 through downtown near the Michigan State Capitol complex, home of the state legislature and several state departments. The Michigan Department of Transportation has labeled it as Capitol Loop I-496 or CL I-496 on some maps, similar to the Business Loop Interstate nomenclature. However, unlike other business loops in Michigan, it has unique reassurance markers—the signs that serve as regular reminders of the name and number of the highway. It is known internally at MDOT as Connector 496 for inventory purposes. The route follows a series of one-way and two-way streets through downtown Lansing, directing traffic downtown to the State Capitol and other government buildings. Unlike the other streets downtown, the seven streets comprising the Capitol Loop are under state maintenance and jurisdiction.
  The loop was originally proposed in 1986 as part of a downtown revitalization effort. Almost from the beginning before the highway was commissioned in 1989, it was affected by controversial proposals.
context_section_description: Officials from the City of Lansing and MDOT announced a two-year, $22 million project (in 2003, equivalent to $29.4 million in 2018) to reconstruct the Capitol Loop on May 22, 2003. The project would have closed downtown streets in 2004 and 2005 after preparatory work in late 2003. MDOT was seeking to rebuild the streets to improve the downtown area around the State Capitol, adding decorative sidewalks, lighting and planting new trees. The city planned to upgrade the sewer system at the same time as part of a 30-year project to separate the storm and sanitary sewers. MDOT stated that the project would completely close streets along the loop, with the exception of one lane of traffic in each direction along Michigan Avenue. The project was called the "most ambitious since the Interstate 496 construction project in 2001" by the Lansing State Journal.
  In the weeks leading up to the November 3, 2003, Lansing City Council meeting, businesses that would be affected by the project raised objections to the scope of the project. One business owner circulated a petition signed by 23 businesses asking the city to delay part of the overall project. The project was nicknamed in the press "Lansing's 'Big Dig'" because the sewer and utility work required 30-foot (9.14 m) excavations in the streets downtown. Some initial opposition was based on a false assumption that the project would close the entire length of the streets at once, instead of in stages. MDOT's original beautification project was delayed five years, and the city's mandated sewer separation project was fast-tracked. This combined project, planned for 2004–05, was planned to prevent digging up the same streets twice within 10–15 years. Most of the business owners expressed concerns that at the end of the project their businesses might not survive to enjoy the benefits of the downtown beautification. The mayor attempted to get the city council to postpone a vote to stop the issuance of bonds for the city's portion of the overall project. City council members criticized MDOT's "[inflexibility] about changing the plans to accommodate businesses." MDOT replied that the contract bids were already out and that it was too late to change the scope of the project.
  The city council tabled the project, postponing a final decision on approving it until the businesses' concerns could be addressed. City officials stated a need to redesign the project to accommodate the business community downtown. The project was originally planned in 1999 with votes and hearings by the city council starting in 2001. The city did not kill the project outright which would have risked the city losing the investment in the downtown infrastructure. Instead, the final decision was delayed for two weeks. Had the project been killed outright, MDOT could have reallocated the funding to any project elsewhere in the state. After the decision to delay the project, Mayor Tony Benavides appointed a task force to work with the businesses to address their concerns. Even the local papers pushed all parties concerned to solve the issues and salvage the project. The city announced a revised plan on November 19, 2003, to move parts of the sewer project to a separate timeline so that they would take 16 years to complete. The original 2004–05 project was scaled down to encompass the sewer and water main work with the beautification project on Ottawa, Allegan, Pine and Walnut streets with additional work possible on Capitol Avenue. The revised plan drew praise from members of the business community. The revised project, now budgeted at $12 million (in 2003, equivalent to $16 million in 2018) involved work on 14 fewer blocks of the downtown area. The project was approved on December 13, 2004. The bids on the contract work were opened on January 21, 2004, with the bid awarded to E.T. MacKenzie Company of Grand Ledge.
caption: Looking west from the top of the Boji Tower showing Allegan Street and the state government office buildings complex between halves of the Capitol Loop
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