Residents of Broadway, Glaspie and East Burdick streets packed the Oxford Village Council chambers April 12 to voice their strong opposition to a proposed truck route.
Council March 22 voted 4-0 to send a letter to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) requesting three things ?
n Large trucks traveling north on M-24 be probibited from making right turns onto East Burdick Street;
n An M-24 northbound truck route be designated from Broadway St. to S. Glaspie St. to E. Burdick St./Lakeville Rd.
n A traffic signal be installed at the intersection of Broadway St. and M-24.
Village officials? reasoning was two-fold ? 1) Eliminate the truck right turn at E. Burdick which officials consider to be a safety hazard to both motorists and pedestrians due to the sharp turning radius; 2) Get a traffic signal installed at Broadway St. and M-24 to slow traffic coming through downtown and make the area more pedestrian-friendly.
Residents, however, were now pleased with the idea and showed up en masse to oppose it based on con cerns over safety, property values and the impact of truck vibrations on their homes and the contents within.
‘I don’t want trucks down there. It’s nuts,? said Vincent Latulippe, of 42 Broadway St. ‘I won’t let my kids play in the front yard because of the traffic right now flying down Broadway.?
Teri Stiles, who’s lived at 30 N. Glaspie St. for 20 years, said she’s ‘vehemently opposed? to any re-routing of truck traffic through residential areas. Stiles noted that ‘as it is, Meijer delivery trucks are sneaking down? N. Glaspie St. (north of E. Burdickl) and ‘they do not in any way shape or form go 25 miles per hour.?
Trucks with gross weights above 40,000 pounds are currently prohibited from driving on N. Glaspie St.
To illustrate how wrong it would be to re-route trucks down a residential street, Stiles told council, ‘If they’re trying to get to Lakeville (Road), let them go through Oxford Lakes. It’s the same thing.?
‘You’re betraying your citizens,? said Don Stiles, Teri’s husband, regarding the Broadway truck route proposal. ‘You’re cutting off the heads of your residents.?
Don Stiles, a former semi-truck driver, suggested the village continue to allow trucks to turn right at E. Burdick St. by eliminating the first five on-street parking spaces on the east side of M-24 and cutting the sidewalk back to create a turning lane. He also suggested making westbound E. Burdick St. traffic stop 2-to-2? car lengths further back from the light to accommodate turning trucks.
Both councilmen Tom Benner and Steve Allen expressed interest in Stiles? idea.
However, Allen noted the village would still need MDOT’s ‘permission to make any modifications to any intersection onto or off of M-24.?
Village President Renee Donovan explained to the audience that council is trying to get an additional traffic signal installed at M-24 and Broadway St. because MDOT ‘flatly turned down? their request for a light at Dennison/Stanton and M-24. The latter location is preferred for a light because of all the pedestrian traffic constantly moving back and forth between Starbucks and Oxford 7 Theater.
When asked what they could do to help get a light at Dennison/Stanton and M-24, council urged residents to write letters to MDOT.
Some residents at the meeting also expressed opposition to the village’s plans to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Glaspie St. and E. Burdick St./Lakeville Road.
Doug O’Brien, of 76 E. Burdick St., said the four-way stop which currently governs the intersection is the only thing that slows drivers down on Glaspie St.
‘Give them a green light, nothing’s going to slow them down,? said O? Brien, noting about a 1,000 vehicles per day use the ‘Glaspie bypass as we call it? (between E. Drahner and Ray roads) to avoid driving downtown.
Some residents expressed concern a signal could speed up traffic because drivers would try to beat the light change.
Donovan said the traffic signal at Glaspie and E. Burdick streets is not a done deal. Although bids were requested for the larger street reconstruction project involving Glaspie and other village streets, it ‘doesn’t mean plans can’t be revisited, readdressed or re-looked at.? She noted the light is a separate project from the actual reconstruction.
Councilman Allen told the crowd, ‘The light does not have to be included in the road reconstruction.?
Allen asked residents how they would feel about a traffic light that wasn’t operational 100 percent of the time. A light that would blink red all four ways except during special events at the high school (on N. Oxford Road) or middle school (on Lakeville Road) when it could be manually switched to a normal red-yellow-green cycle. ‘Does that present an issue to the neighborhood?? he asked.
Councilman George Del Vigna noted that all the traffic going through the Glaspie/E. Burdick/Lakeville Rd. intersection was created by ‘urban sprawl beyond our (the village’s) borders.? He noted the village has ‘no control? over what the township or the county does, council can only control what’s within the village’s boundaries.
Given the possible development of the 1,160-acre Koenig Sand & Gravel property along Lakeville Road to the east, Del Vigna said something has to be done to control traffic. ‘Eventually we’re going to be overrun by the urban sprawl,? Del Vigna said.