By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Twp. — Motorists on Grange Hall and Tripp roads through the township will now be reminded just how fast they are traveling.
Earlier this month the Road Commission for Oakland County installed digitally displayed speed alert message signs on a section of Grange Hall Road and Tripp Road. Four solar powered signs, for east and west travelers, were approved by the township in January 2023 at a cost of about $5,000 each. The installation cost an additional $5,000 per sign. Speed and traffic data from the signs will be tallied providing township officials records.
The decision to purchase the signs followed a study from March to September 2022 the RCOC monitored and recorded the speed of motorists from Jossman Road near Fire Station Two, 3085 Grange Hall Road to Van Road near Tripp. The posted speed is 55 mph.
“The mean speed was 61 and a half miles per hour,” said Bob DePalma, township supervisor. “That does not seem like excessive speed. But, the signs will be a reminder to be aware of the speed. And some residents were concerned.”
In addition, the 50 mph Tripp Road speed alert sign is located just East of Dixie Highway and near Grange Hall Road.
DePalma suggested the signs do help slow drivers down that may be inadvertently speeding. If the new Grange Hall Road signs are not opposed by residents or other drivers, the paved section of Barron Road, the paved section of Groveland Road, and Oak Hill Road of which Springfield Township could possibly share in the cost, would be considered.
Michigan State Trooper First Lt. Mike Shaw said excessive speed is one of the main causes of traffic crashes in the state.
“While it is the drivers responsibility to drive at a safe and prudent speed, these digital signs act as a additional reminder for drivers to drive at the posted speed limit or slower if the conditions dictate.”
Speed on Grange Hall Road may have been a factor in several fatal accidents over the past years.
In February 2019 Michigan State Troopers responded to a crash on Grange Hall Road near Foxwood Trail. A pickup truck was traveling at a high rate of speed on Grange Hall Road, lost control at the intersection near Foxwood Trail leaving the roadway and striking a tree. The male driver was transported to Ascension Genesys Hospital Grand Blanc with unknown injuries a 23-year-old male from Brandon Township man died at the scene.
In November 2022, Michigan State Troopers responded to the 200 block of Grange Hall, Groveland Township after a passing motorist observed a vehicle in the ditch.
On scene investigation revealed that the 33-year-old driver, a Caro resident who was pronounced dead at the scene, was on eastbound Grange Hall approaching a sharp curve. The vehicle veered left in a straight line, ran off the roadway to the left. The vehicle then hit a tree and uprooted another before coming to a rest in a ditch, several feet lower than the roadway.