Groveland Twp.- After state transportation officials dumped a proposed traffic light at the intersection of Oakwood Road and M-15 earlier this year a recent study by the Michigan Department of Transportation may now reverse their decision.
MDOT officials say a traffic study completed in August appears to include enough accident data leaving the intersection in the ‘ball park? of what it would take to install a traffic signal.
Steve Stramsak, Traffic and Safety engineer for the Michigan Department of Transportation in Oakland County says a light at the intersection of Oakwood Road land M-15 is now possible by as soon as the first of the year.
‘It’s borderline between a light and no light,? said Stramsak. The study meets all the warrants for a light. We looked at the volume on M-15 and Oakwood Road and it’s sufficient however, it’s very close to a light.?
It may be a few weeks before a decision is made by MDOT regarding the traffic light says Stramsak. The news delights area officials following several years of battle for a light..
Bob DePalma, Groveland Township supervisor along with the M-15 task force a group of municipalities whose communities are along M-15 have pushed for a traffic light at Oakwood Road and M-15. Traffic backups are very common as traffic heading west on Oakwood Road backs up sometimes past Bueche’s Food World.
Both Brandon and Groveland townships along with the Village of Ortonville are all members of the Traffic Improvement Association, which provides traffic data to municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and school districts in order to assist in solving community traffic problems. According to data received from Traffic Improvement Association (TIA), between 2000 and 2004, 98 accidents occurred at the intersection which includes 16 in 2004.
In January 2003, DePalma along with then Ortonville Village Manager Paul Zelenak requested a traffic data study of the intersection by TIA.
The original study was initiated as a twofold effort to provide a traffic signal at the intersection and to encourage Oakwood traffic to enter M-15 at that light, rather than through downtown streets from Mill to M-15.
TIA Traffic Engineer Bob DeCorte completed the study and found that while they were unable to estimate the amount of traffic diverted through town, data did suggested that a light at the Oakwood Road intersection appeared to meet at least four of the 11 MDOT warrants to justify a signal. The effort for a light then stalled on Feb. 23, when MDOT notified both Groveland Township and the Village of Ortonville that study the intersection did not warrant a signal.