Recently a proposal to extend for an additional 15 years a 1.25 mill property tax levy due to expire this year was soundly defeated by a poor voter turnout in the August primary election. The millage was to have been used to finance a major renova-tion of the downtown riverfront as a cultural and convention center. The outcome was indicative of the economic -self-interest which has characterized general public reaction on most of the issues involved in revitalizing the central city or controlling development of the suburbs.

Against this background the East Beltline Association was organized as a nonprofit corporation last January to formulate a plan for rational controlled development of the land and improvement of the roadway along a 15-mile stretch of the East Beltline. A group of East Grand Rapids residents first approached the Greater Grand Rapids Cham-ber of Commerce with their concerns. Soon after that, a small group wrote the organizational by-laws, modeled on the organization ,of the US 131 Area Development Associa-tion which has been working since 1969 to plan the 200-mile corridor through which the new US 131 Expressway will pass on its way from Grand Rapids to the Straits of Mackinaw.

When the five municipal governments involved in the East Beltline project area were contacted, they immediately accepted the objectives set down by the formation committee:

``To promote the reconstruction of the East Beltline as soon as possible from Plainfield Avenue to 60th Street with an adequate highway, and encourage proper planned development of the adjacent areas.''

The five governments. Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and Plainfield and Grand Rapids Townships, are each repre-sented by three persons on the 21-member EBA Board of Directors-one each from the residential community, business, and govern-ment. In addition, the Kent County Road and Planning Commissions, the County-at-large, the Chamber of Commerce, and a homeowners' group, Cascadia Association, have representatives. Calvin College is entitled to representation on the Board but so far has declined, and the seat remains vacant.

Perhaps the most important factor which led to organization of the EBA is the condition of 28th Street. In less than 20 years commercial ``strip development'' has turned what was once an essentially semi-rural landscape into a crowded five-lane ribbon of pavement running between two endless chains of restaurants and car dealer-ships.

The East Beltline has begun to show symptoms of the same cancer. Since con-struction of Woodland and Eastbrook Shopping Centers, the traffic flow on the portion of the Beltline running between the two malls has increased from 4,000 vehicles per day in 1965 to 16,600 as of 1971. Projections for 1990 are somewhere around 55,500.

The development of the Kent Skills Center, two college campuses (Calvin and Grand Rapids Baptist Bible College), and scattered multi-family housing complex has produced similar results along other sections of the highway. And in addition to the normal amount of truck traffic, two gravel pits at the extreme north end of the project area and a State Waste Disposal Area slightly farther south flood the roadway with slow cement and garbage trucks.

Needless to say, accidents have sky-rocketed over the past few years. Former EBA President Huizenga puts the accident rate increase between Five-Mile Road and 28th Street over the period 1964-1969 at 700 percent.

Facing the possibility of another eco-catastrophe of 28th Street proportions, the EBA retained Williams & Works, Inc, a local planning and engineering firm, to aid in drafting the master plan on a $10,000 commission. J Paul Jones, a consultant for Williams & Works, contacted the govern-mental bodies and business groups involved in an effort to formulate several suggested alternative plans. Jones also sent out about 200 questionnaires to homeowners living in the project area, attempting to incorporate their ideas in arriving at a workable plan with consensus support.

With all the data collected, a multitude of choices was considered. Suggestions for reconstruction of the East Beltline itself ran the gamut from a five-lane unlimited access roadway (an open invitation to strip development) to a four-lane limited access expressway with an 80-foot median. Land use proposals ranged from completely uncontrolled development to a total mora-torium on any further building. Of course, such obviously unacceptable extremes were eventually discarded in favor of a more practical plan.

After thousands of hours of work, Jones and the EBA Board of Directors presented the finished product with their unanimous approval at a public hearing held Thursday, September 28. Over 200 people crowded the Community Room in Woodland Mall for the presentation of what Jones called ``a reflec-tion of maximum citizen input.''

Overall width of 1320 feet