Brandon Twp.? Linda Vella knows the routine all too well.
‘Hear the crash’call 9-1-1,? said Vella, a Seymour Lake Road resident for the past eight years. ‘Cars flipped over, hit mailboxes and ran over curve signs are common’cars seem to end up in our front yards too.?
Vella is just one of several local residents concerned about a 2-1/2 mile section of Seymour Lake Road between M-15 and Sashabaw Road. The two lane east-west road meanders through rural Brandon Township curving just north of Seymour Lake.
The rather placid stretch of road seems to have a over- abundance of accidents. In an incident report from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department in 2003 about 36 accidents were reported. The variety of incidents include car-deer, personal injury and traffic collisions. The section of road also included a fatality and serious injury in February 2004.
‘There are several bus stops along the curve section of Seymour Lake Road,? said Katherine Stewart, who lives just south of the Seymour Lake Road curves near Sashabaw Road. ‘Motorists are often distracted, and get mad when the bus stops on both sides of the road.?
Stewart, along with other residents, waits with school children for the school bus at 8 a.m. and in the afternoon each school day. Local school buses stop in the curves, says Stewart, near Sashabaw Road which leave motorists blind to the bus stop. ‘I watch a lot of cars swerve off the road and have near accidents in those curves.?
Yet, despite the residents? concern the Road Commission for Oakland County has no current plans to remedy the situation.
‘We have a three-year road improvement plan. However, no program for Seymour Lake Road has been suggested the next year,? said Brian Blaesing, Director of planning and development for the Road Commission for Oakland County. ‘If there’s been a series of accidents we look to possibly solve the problem in some way.?
Blaesing added that each segment of county road is analyzed each year and the top 100 roads are considered for improvement. Items such as a bad curve sign, a left turn lane or a stop sign may be added to rectify the problem, said Blaesing.
Brandon Fire Chief Robert McArthur is too familiar with the section of Seymour Lake Road after years of responding to accidents.
‘The accidents on that section of Seymour Lake Road always seem to be the worst,? said McArthur. ‘I can count at least seven fatalities in the past 20 years’and they’re too often students.?
Local law enforcement agencies are also aware of the Seymour Lake Road situation.
‘There’s been a few accidents in that area of Seymour Lake Road,? said Mike Garrison, Brandon Sheriff’s Department deputy afternoon patrol.
‘There’s an open lake section and a sharp curve that’s posted at 50 mph’people don’t realize if you get a little snow or rain on the road it can get slick. Even in perfect road conditions that may be too fast.?
A straightaway ending in curves heading east on Seymour Lake Road adds to the speed on the curves, says Garrison.
Yet despite the accidents on Seymour Lake Road, Oakland County roads are among the safest in the state, says Traffic Improvement Association (TIA) Engineer Bob DeCorte. No study is currently being considered for that section of Seymour Lake Road.
Brandon and Groveland townships, along with the Village of Ortonville, are all members of the TIA, which provides traffic data to municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and school districts in order to assist in solving community traffic problems.
‘Fatal accidents are very random, and rare in the area,? said DeCorte. ‘For every 45,000 (accidents) about 95 involve a fatality. Oakland County has one of the lowest fatality rates in the state.?
Oakland County reports .7 fatalities per million miles traveled compared to 1.5 fatalities per million statewide and1.6 in United States, DeCorte said.