highway was studied in January 1981 for $144,000 (equivalent to $ in ). The choice of consultants on the project was controversial; local planners felt that MDOT picked BKI Inc. only because they used a minority-owned subcontractor and not because they would be qualified for the assignment. As this study was initiated, the route for the proposed freeway was located between 60th and 68th streets with a western end in Hudsonville and an eastern end in Lowell Township. The consultants were asked to study a full freeway and a limited access boulevard design. One final option was a "no-build" alternative; under this option, existing roads would be upgraded but no new roads would be built. The City of Grand Rapids opposed the freeway while the suburbs and townships south and west of the city supported it. City officials were concerned about the impact to commercial and industrial business in Grand Rapids. Hudsonville's city manager favored the proposal as a benefit to local vegetable producers who shipped produce to Detroit or Cleveland. Other supporters, such as the Georgetown Township supervisor, were concerned that delays in starting the project could increase costs. State and local officials expected the freeway in January 1981 to cost between $40–100 million (equivalent to $– million in ). The road was to be started no sooner than 1990. The boundaries for the highway corridor were determined by the consultants in April 1982, running between 60th and 84th streets, "dipping like a hammock beneath the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming". The results of the study by BKI were criticized by local planners in May 1982, who called the study "shabby and unprofessional work", and asked the state to fire the consulting firm. Local residents distributed 2,000 fliers to their neighbors in opposition to the freeway. The South Belt Local Advisory Board criticized BKI's 110-page study report as "filled with errors"; the consultants' earlier 26-page paper had been rejected by the board and MDOT as "unusable". An editorial in The Grand Rapids Press stated that the study did not help advance the project in the area, instead opening the proposed freeway up to new controversies. Doubts about the state's budget in 1982 to build the roadway combined with issues over the consultants and their study results. A second citizens group, the South Belt Citizens Committee, was formed in July 1982 to gain additional public information on the project and