Politics & Government

MDOT to Raise Michigan Avenue Speed Limits in Saline

The speed limit will remain unchanged downtown.

Drivers on Michigan Avenue are moving faster than the speed limit, so the Michigan Department of Transportation is upping the limits at certain areas of Saline’s main thoroughfare.

At Monday’s meeting, City Manager Todd Campbell outlined the proposed changes:

  • From Industrial Drive to Hopper Drive, the speed limit increases from 45 to 50 miles per hour.
  • From Hopper Drive to Keveling Drive, the speed increases from 40 to 45 miles per hour.
  • From Keveling Drive to Harris Street, the speed limit increases to 40 miles per hour.
  • Speed limits downtown, from Harris Street to Lewis Street, remain at 30 miles per hour.
  • From Lewis Street to Mill Street, the speed increases to 40 miles per hour.
  • From Mills Street to the city limit, the speed limit will be 45 miles per hour.

According to Campbell, MDOT and the Michigan State Police determined the speed limits by conducting a traffic study. Campbell said the new speed limits were based on "85th percentile" speed — or the speed at or below which 85 percent of the vehicles were traveling during the study.

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Campbell said he understood that MDOT wants to move traffic through town, but he’s worried that higher speed limits are contrary to the city’s efforts to make a pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly community.

Councillor David Rhoads agreed.

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“I hate to see those speed limits go up. It’s dangerous enough out there,” said Rhoads, adding that it didn’t make sense to increase the speed limit between Lewis and Mills streets, a two-block stretch with a traffic light in between. “How is anyone going to get up to that speed?”

Mayor Gretchen Driskell said she thought MDOT was pushing Saline in the wrong direction by upping the speed limit. She noted that are several traffic-calming features in a Michigan Avenue construction project that MDOT recently pushed back until 2017.

“We’ve spent a great deal of time and effort to make Saline a pedestrian-friendly community,” Driskell said.

Campbell said that an official from the Michigan State Police has been invited to attend the next City Council meeting to address the issue. It's not known when the new speed limits take effect.


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