I returned to an old-looking but illegible stamp I had previously done in 2021, hoping that the time of day or the wet pavement might have made it visible. Unfortunately, I still can’t make it out (except for “Lansing, Mich”), although fussing with the contrast a bit made it tantalizingly close.
The paired stamp a bit north is equally illegible, if not more so. These are on the west side of North Foster Avenue between Michigan and Vine.
Yes, it’s another exciting installment of my occasional series, “What municipalities in greater Lansing have sidewalk marking requirements?” Today I visited Grand Ledge’s municipal code and for a sidewalk fan like me, at least, it was a good read. That’s because it’s extremely detailed, perhaps the most of any that I’ve read so far, about issues like the proper width, grading, distance from the road, etc., of sidewalks, as well as assigning responsibility for the cost. It also has a section stipulating the conditions under which a sidewalk will be “presumed to be defective,” as follows:
I’m not sure why some of those provisions get an “or” on the end and others don’t. It looks like an oversight. Anyway, I think by the standards above, something like 25% of the sidewalk in my neighborhood would be presumed defective!
Ultimately, though, the sidewalk code of Grand Ledge is disappointing. The detailed, strict rules in it got me thinking that they would also be the kind of town that would want sidewalks to be stamped. Alas, it is not so. I can’t find anything in the code that requires sidewalk markings.
More mysterious painted numbers like the one I previously found on Michigan Avenue at the corner of North Foster, except this time each one is duplicated in yellow and black. Two of the three have a pink square screwed into the crack next to them. I still don’t know what it all means, but if you do, please let me know because I’m curious. I found one in front of the Church of the Resurrection, on the north side of the street between Ferguson and Custer, and one in front of the GNS TV building, a little further east.
This nice Moore Trosper sign is just west of the entrance drive of the Meridian Mall, on the north side of Grand River Avenue in Meridian Township. I like how the crisply-laid date makes it clear that they are using a modular stamp in which each digit can be replaced separately.
Here is a nice East Jordan Iron Works water utility cover from the north side of Grand River Avenue just west of the mall. I wondered if the tree by the river was from the seal of Meridian Township, but no, it appears that their seal depicts a log cabin and a tipi.
Continuing my walk near the Meridian Mall, I found another new-to-me contractor stamp. This one is in front of Buddy’s Pizza on the north side of Grand River Avenue, a short distance west of the mall entrance.
Merlo Construction is based on Milford, which is pretty far afield from Meridian Township, so I assume a pretty big project brought them here. According to the About page on their Web site, the business was founded by Perry and Ray Merlo in 1991.
I went for a walk while waiting for my car to get a tire replacement at Discount Tire on Grand River Avenue in Meridian Township. In the process, I found a few new sidewalk stamps, for the first time in a while. This one is in front of a Taco Bell on the north side of the street, across from Meijer.
Mauldon Const. is most likely Mauldon Brothers Construction of Mason, which I believe to be the continuation of Glen Mauldon Construction (Glen having died in 2012). I can’t find out much about the business or its history, except that it seems that they particularly do sewer work and have been contracted to do such work by Meridian Township at times. It is likely, then, that this sidewalk replacement was done as the result of sewer work along Grand River.
My husband brought my attention to this installment of The Outbursts of Everett True, which he came to via the Classic Comic Strips (@classicstrips) Twitter. According to @classicstrips, it ran February 27, 1912. I realize that the comic ran for years and years and was bound to come to the same topics repeatedly, but it sure does seem like A.D. Condo had very strong opinions about sidewalk usability.
First crunch time at work and then the winter storm have prevented me from photographing the next stamp on my list, so please accept instead this photo of some Christmas lights in my east side neighborhood. And please, don’t forget to shovel and salt your sidewalk this winter.
As part of the recent East Kalamazoo Street construction that also saw a lot of new sidewalk laid, a crosswalk with warning arrows was painted on Kalamazoo at Mifflin Avenue.
Kalamazoo previously had no crosswalks anywhere between Clemens and Howard, a nine-block span. This one is a lot closer to Howard than to Clemens, but it was presumably placed here due to the presence of the Village Party Store. It doesn’t have a light, even a flashing one, but at least it’s something.