Betty Ford route from museum to church

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Betty Ford will take one final trip to church on Thursday morning, following a route from the Ford Museum to Grace Episcopal Church.

The funeral, though private, will be carried live on WOOD TV8 and streamed on woodtv.com.

But mourners are encouraged to line the procession route from downtown to the church, then back again for a private interment ceremony.

The motorcade departs the Ford Presidential Museum at 1 p.m. Thursday, and will follow this route:

• north on Scribner Ave NW
• east on Bridge St NW
• south on Monroe Ave NW
• east on Fulton St W
• southeast on Lake Dr SE
• south on Breton Road SE
• west on Hall St SE

The procession will end at Grace Episcopal Church, 1815 Hall Street SE, Grand Rapids.

Once the service is over, the motorcade will return to the museum in a slightly different path, heading north on Plymouth to Lake. The rest of the route remains the same.

Downtown is there are more parking options (pdf) and more standing room at landmarks like Rosa Parks Circle and outside Van Andel Arena, but there's likely to be more crowds.

There are churches and elementary schools along Lake Drive where you might find a place to park, but parking space was already at a premium on Wednesday along Lake Drive in East Grand Rapids.