Back to Construction Updates

Kent County Drain Commissioner - Knapp's Corner Drain Improvements

Important Information

Knapp’s Corner is a highly developed commercial district in northeast Grand Rapids. Originally, storm water was designed to be managed via a large retention/infiltration basin near the northeast corner of Knapp Street and East Beltline. Due to a variety of factors, the basin has not functioned as planned, and in recent years the Drain Commissioner has had to pump and haul water from the basin to the Grand River. An alternate method for storm water management is required.

The Kent County Drain Commissioner will construct an approximately 3-mile-long pipeline from the basin northerly and easterly to the Grand River along Dunnigan Avenue and 3 Mile Road. This will provide a gravity outlet for the basin with no pumping required. Affected roads will be fully reconstructed including safety improvements. Additionally, the existing basin will be modified and expanded to provide additional storm water management capacity. When complete, the basin will have been converted from a retention system to a detention system.

Tree clearing along Dunnigan and 3 Mile is scheduled for Spring 2026. Limited pipe work near the intersection of 3 Mile Road and Grand River Drive is scheduled for Fall 2026. The majority of pipeline installation and road reconstruction in Dunnigan and 3 Mile will occur in 2027. The basin expansion and modifications are scheduled for 2028, with final project completion anticipated in Fall 2028.

Access/Traffic:

Local traffic will be maintained at most times during construction. There may be times when your driveway is inaccessible because pipeline installation or road/driveway reconstruction is occurring in front of your house. The contractor will work with you ahead of time and will make special access arrangements with you if needed.

When work is occurring in Grand River Drive, 3 Mile Road, and Dunnigan Avenue, thru traffic will be detoured around the work area, primarily using Knapp Street and East Beltline.

Mail:

Mailboxes that interfere with construction will be temporarily relocated so that mail service can be maintained during construction. If your mailbox needs to be temporarily relocated, the contactor will inform you of where it has been moved to and when they anticipate it will be returned to its original location.

Garbage Pickup:

The contractor will work with you and your waste hauler to maintain service throughout construction. If construction interferes with your waste hauler’s ability to pick up your garbage, the contractor will temporarily move your garbage bins to a central location and return them to the end of your driveway by the end of the workday.

Water Service:

Your drinking water service should not be impacted by the proposed construction.

In limited areas, the groundwater table may need to be temporarily lowered to install the pipeline. Please notify us of any concerns.

Contact

P&N Engineer:
Kevin L. Gritters, PE, Project Manager
(616) 364-8491

P&N Construction Observer: TBD

Contractor: Kamminga & Roodvoets, Inc.

Kent County Drain Commissioner
Ken Yonker, Drain Commissioner
Joel Morgan, PE, Senior Engineer
(616) 632-7910

 

powered by Advanced iFrame

October 30, 2026

Progress Report:

Grand River Drive and 3 Mile Road have been reconstructed, and paving was completed ahead of schedule on Thursday, October 29!

Upcoming Work:

Through the rest of this week and early next week, K&R will install an access drive over the storm sewer east of Grand River Drive, restore lawn areas and clean up the site. Pavement markings are scheduled for Monday, followed by seeding of the restored lawn areas on Tuesday. K&R aims to finish this year’s work and reopen Grand River Drive and 3 Mile Road to traffic mid-to-late next week.

Notes:

After this year’s work is complete, construction will resume in Spring 2027 with K&R working west on 3 Mile Road from Grand River Drive.
October 23, 2026

Progress Report:

The Grand River Drive and 3 Mile Road intersection was closed to traffic on October 15. Following the closure, K&R installed storm sewer across Grand River Drive, northerly to 3 Mile Road, and 120 feet westerly. Storm sewer installation is complete, and reconstruction of 3 Mile Road has begun. Sand subbase has been placed within 3 Mile Road, and concrete curb and gutter has been poured on the widened approaches of the intersection. Some driveway culverts along Grand River Drive have also been installed.

Upcoming Work:

K&R will continue restoring driveways along Grand River Drive and reconstructing 3 Mile Road for the remainder of this week. Next week, K&R will continue grading 3 Mile Road and Grand River Drive to prepare for paving. Paving of HMA base course is currently scheduled for October 30; however, it may be moved to earlier in the week if schedules allow. Following HMA base course paving, a portion of the south bound lane of Grand River Drive will be cold milled, HMA top course will be paved, road shoulder will be installed, and lawn restoration will be performed. Top course paving is currently scheduled for November 3 with a current open to traffic date of November 9.
October 9, 2026

Progress Report:

After nearly a decade of planning, coordination, and design, construction commenced this week on the Knapp’s Corner Outlet project. K&R began by constructing about 400 feet of open channel where the new county drain will discharge into the existing Cook Drain southeast of the intersection of 3 Mile Rd and Grand River Dr. Then they installed about 150 feet of 30-inch diameter concrete storm sewer pipe heading westerly away from the river. This pipe is the downstream end of what will be about 3 miles of gravity flow storm sewer. The open channel and pipeline will remain dry (not receive flow from Knapp’s Corner Drainage District) until 2028.

Upcoming Work:

K&R will not be on site early next week, but on Thursday, October 15, K&R and Kent County Road Commission (KCRC) will implement a full closure of the 3 Mile Road and Grand River Drive intersection. Portable message boards should be in place soon. Posted detour routes will be Knapp Street and East Beltline.

This closure will be in place for several weeks while the pipeline is installed across Grand River Drive, northerly to 3 Mile Road, then westerly to get the pipe out of the closed intersection. In early November, the impacted roads should be reconstructed and re-opened to traffic.

Construction will then conclude for the season. K&R plans to commence pipeline construction again in Spring 2027 in 3 Mile Road just west of Grand River Drive.
June 9, 2026

KCDC’s contractor, SavATree, has completed the tree clearing work associated with the future drain project and road reconstruction work. No additional work on this project is anticipated until later this fall when K&R will do some work near the intersection of 3 Mile Road and Grand River Drive.

The additional tree removal along the north side of 3 Mile (from Shear to Grand River Drive) is being completed by Consumers Energy and their contractor; this work is unrelated to the Knapp’s Corner Drain project. Consumers Energy indicated they needed to pause their work temporarily due to a property issue; as soon as that issue is resolved, they plan to have crews back on site.

March 18, 2026

Clearing work related to the Knapp’s Corner Drain will begin soon. The Kent County Drain Commissioner’s contractor, SavaTree, will begin brush clearing and limited or selective tree removal along 3 Mile Road and Dunnigan Avenue in advance of a storm sewer and road improvement project.

Clearing work will take place within the road right-of-way and is expected to be complete by the end of April 2026. The storm sewer and road improvement project is expected to begin in late 2026 and continue through 2027.  Trees and landscaping in this area may be removed for construction and not replaced. If you wish to save any landscaping features along the road, it is recommended you move it before construction.