State plans to raise speed limits on Michigan Avenue in Saline
The State of Michigan plans to increase speeds on portions of Michigan Avenue in Saline, officials said this week as they raised concerns about ongoing traffic calming efforts.
City Manager Todd Campbell said the Michigan State Police had contacted the city about allowing faster speeds everywhere except downtown.
The affected areas will be from Industrial Drive to Hopper Street, which will go from 45 mph to 50 mph, and from Keveling Dr. to Harris Street, which will increase to 40 mph.
In addition, the section from Lewis to Mills will increase to 40 mph and from Mills to the outskirts of town, the speed will be 45 mph.
The area through the downtown will continue to be 30 mph.
The changes, Campbell said, were based on the speeds of 85 percent of the cars traveling through those areas.
Mayor Gretchen Driskell said she wanted to be sure that the state was aware of the city’s plan to calm traffic and slow it down near Oakwood Cemetery.
“We’ve been pushing for traffic calming along this corridor and this is pushing it in the wrong direction. We have spent a lot of time and effort as a community to make Saline pedestrian friendly.”
Executive Director of the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Larry Osterling said, “The faster traffic goes, the less good it is for commerce. I think we’ll get merchant feedback about this.”
It’s not known how soon the state will make the changes in the speeds.
Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Saline stories, visit our Saline page.
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