Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad given to railroads (which would then re-sell these lands for a profit) in exchange for constructing certain routes. At the heart of Michigan's network at the time were the Michigan Central Railroad and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, both of which ran east-west across the southern Lower Peninsula. As proposed in the route would run from "Amboy by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay." This route would bisect the existing railroad network and provide a railroad connection to Lansing, the new state capital. Almost immediately local interests intervened: the
Lansing Charter Township, Michigan of Lansing Township with the construction of the Eastwood Towne Center, one of the largest shopping malls in Metropolitan Lansing, and the subsequent creation of the Lansing Township Downtown Development Authority to capture state and national funds for development. The central eastern sections of the township are almost exclusively residential, save for a small strip of land that runs along either side of US-127. The northern portion of these two sections contain the large Groesbeck neighborhood, and the smaller southern portion includes part of the Urbandale neighborhood. The southeastern section of the township is exclusively agricultural in nature, containing experimental