'Insane' gravel road speed limits spark complaints from residents
Accidents and other safety and noise concerns prompt a call for action from Lyon Township residents to the Road Commission.
'Insane' gravel road speed limits spark complaints from residents Accidents and other safety and noise concerns prompt a call for action from Lyon Township residents to the Road Commission. Check out this story on HometownLife.com: https://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/south-lyon/2019/08/12/gravel-road-speed-limits-dangerous-say-michigan-residents/1958118001/
Susan Bromley, Hometownlife.com Published 1:35 p.m. ET Aug. 12, 2019
A car zips along Currie Road north of Eight Mile Road. Some residents along Currie Road would like a stricter speed enforcement as some drivers exceed speed limits on the gravel road that twists and turns. (Photo: John Heider | hometownlife.com)
Emily Davis, along with several other residents on or near Currie Road, implored the Lyon Township Board last week to lower the 55 mph speed limit on the gravel thoroughfare immediately.
"It is insane," she said. "We have a hard time getting our mail. It's very dangerous."
Davis has found a dead cat in front of her driveway between 8 and 9 Mile and also cites an incident where a car ran into the embankment while trying to pass her vehicle. She's put the family home on the market with plans to move elsewhere with her husband and five children due to safety concerns.
She is not alone in her worry over gravel road speeds. The issue has drawn complaints from residents throughout Oakland County after the state initially approved a law raising speeds on gravel roads to 55 mph in 2006, implemented the law in 2009, and subsequently made modifications.
"There has been a lot of political pressure," Craig Bryson, public information officer for the Road Commission for Oakland County, said. "Reality has shown it almost doesn't matter, people drive at whatever speed they feel comfortable, regardless of speed limit and that tends to be in the 30s.
Currie and Eight Mile Road. (Photo: John Heider | hometownlife.com)
"The state police pushed for speeds to be raised because no one was going 25 mph to begin with and it was an "unrealistic speed that no one would follow anyhow."
Since the speed limit on 230 segments of gravel road in the state that were previously 25 mph were raised to 55 mph a decade ago, the number of crashes on those segments has decreased, Bryson said, "in complete contrast to residents' assertions that it would be a bloodbath with crashes everywhere."
"That has not proven to be the case," he said. "This is an emotional issue, but we follow the state law and try to allow our decisions to be driven by data and not emotion."
Speed limits on gravel roads in Michigan are now based on the number of access points, including driveways, side streets and alleys. If a gravel road has less than 30 access points in a half-mile stretch, it is unposted and set at 55 mph.
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On Currie Road, there are about 35 homeowners in the one-mile stretch between 8 and 9 Mile Road, and Tony Verbiscus has gathered petition signatures from all but one of his neighbors to get the speed limit lowered. The residents are also asking for no passing signs and a bike lane to be added in anticipation of the road being paved in two years. He also plans to ask residents between 9 and 10 Mile roads to add their names to the petition.
Verbiscus would like to see the speed lowered to 25, where he says it used to be on the residential road before a change in state law several years ago, but on the petition is asking for 35. He said even 45 mph would be better.
"We've had three reported accidents and a fourth that was not recorded, just from people trying to turn in their driveways," Verbiscus said. "One was rear-ended by a garbage truck… We know (drivers) go 70 mph from a previous traffic study and to get to 35 is going to be pulling hair and nails. The banging coming down the road is like a thunderstorm from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. at night. I have to powerwash my house twice a year. They hit potholes at 55 mph, trailers are swaying, it's unbelievable."
Township officials' options limited
Supervisor John Dolan agreed the speed limit should be lower, but both he and Township Engineer Leslie Zawada noted their hands are essentially tied as the Road Commission for Oakland County has jurisdiction over all roads in Lyon Township and the state sets the speed limit and changes it only with a speed study, for which she said there is a backlog of three years.
Paul Vandenheede, said while he lives in the Tanglewood subdivision, he is still impacted by the traffic on Currie Road and wants township officials to do something about it.
He said when he brought concerns to the road commission, he was told they don't answer to citizens, but "to people who pay gas taxes, truckers."
When the state law changed several years ago increasing the speed from 25 mph on Currie to 55 mph, he said suddenly everyone who wanted to travel from north to south in the township got on the road, including tanker trucks, landscapers, and "everyone who wants to get south without the cops seeing them."
"The Oakland County Sheriff agrees with us; it is not safe with the condition of the road," Vandenheede said. "We are asking for you to disallow heavy through traffic on Currie Road. Traffic should be rerouted around the township."
No passing signs are unlikely and truck traffic will continue to be a challenge on Currie Road, Bryson said, as it is one of only five north-south primary roads in Lyon Township. The others are Chubb, Griswold, Napier and Pontiac Trail. All are main public roads, Bryson noted and "you have to have a really good reason to tell them they can't drive on there."
Elwood Metzler, who lives on adjacent Autumn Ridge Drive, said if the township can't limit speeds on the road, stop signs be installed at Woody Lane, Autumn Ridge, Lorrie's Way and 9 Mile.
He offered to pay for and install the stop sign at Autumn Ridge himself.
Township officials agreed to ask the Road Commission formally to lower the speed and Bryson said a modification to the law in 2017 gives RCOC the authority to lower speeds to 45 mph if it deems the action warranted.
Bryson said the RCOC's traffic safety department would consider the request for Currie Road, examining sight distance issues, the width of the road and studying other potential safety issues. A decision would most likely be returned by October or November and "lowering to 45 is certainly within the realm of possibility," Bryson said.
After the road is paved at least two years from now, a traffic study will determine the speed based on what 85% of drivers are doing.
"The theory is that 85 percent of people drive at a safe and reasonable speed," Bryson said. "Typically, people drive faster on paved road than gravel roads."
Contact Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanBromley10.
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