oldblueypsi

Tue, Sep 22, 2009 : 11 a.m.

Once again, with the "new, improved" A2News, accuracy is an option. The intersection "13. North Huron Street and East Michigan Avenue: 22" does not exist. The boundary point for East and West Michigan Avenue is the Huron River, located one half block east of the alleged intersection. The intersection of North and South Huron Streets and West Michigan Avenue is the intersection being referred to.

Hemenway

Thu, Sep 3, 2009 : 1:32 a.m.

Motorists need to chill, slow down, be careful, respect pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists, how much time do you save driving like madman, a minute or two? I see motorists make insane moves on the highway to save, at best, a second or two. Just sayin...

Tom

Fri, Aug 28, 2009 : 6:57 p.m.

Comment 22 from Bettye finally got to the right question: which intersection is the most dangerous in relation to the number of vehicles that use it? Of course Carpenter and Washtenaw and Packard, etc. have a lot of accidents. The traffic through those intersections is horrendous.

John Hritz

Wed, Aug 26, 2009 : 4:14 p.m.

Mike D. that is a very interesting point. A list of locations where tickets have been written for unsafe turns, failure to yield, etc. overlayed on the map would be revealing.

Mike D.

Wed, Aug 26, 2009 : 8:03 a.m.

You know what's NOT surprising? The biggest speed traps in town (S. State at Eisenhower and E. Stadium at S. Main) are NOT on this list. If the A2 Police actually cared about safety more than revenue, they'd forget these safe but profitable traps and watch the areas on the list above for dangerous driving.

bettye

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 6:25 p.m.

Of course, heavily traveled intersections are likely to have more accidents. What I am interested in are the most dangerous accident areas comparing amount of traffic and number of accidents. About a decade ago, we lived downtown near a smaller intersection where I was reporting traffic collisions almost every day. It truly was a dangerous intersection and I watched city vehicles sitting in front of our house for many weeks trying to figure it out; eventually they did, and our intersection lost it's undesirable designation. Tell us the truly bad ones: not just the very busy ones!!

A2

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 4:40 p.m.

I wonder if the reason that Carpenter and Packard scored the way they did has anything to do with that gas station on the corner. I have seen many accidents from people attempting to turn left on to Packard from that gas station.

mojo

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 4:11 p.m.

It's only a matter of time before there's a fatality at the N Maple Rd. Round-about. nearly every one ignores the posted 15 mph speed limit, most drivers do not yield to those already in the round-about and pedestrians need track skills to cross at x-walks. At night it becomes a favorite for racer wannabes and since it's been open Two 30ft lamp posts have been destroyed. A couple of well placed speed bumps would help considerably.

treetowncartel

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 4:05 p.m.

Roundabouts? That would be off topic, just kidding. Seriously though, they are not pedestrian friendly, particualrly for people who move slow. The comment about the US 23 Washtenaw intercahnge is correct, it is so archaic. The Washtenaw corridor would be a lot better if it were a parkway. It would certainly encroach on some business if it were widened for that, but having the Michigan lefts in there would be a lot better. The off/on Ramps on US 23 at M-59 and I-94 at Telegraph fucntion great. If there are any faults in those i would love to hear about them.

John Schultz

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 4 p.m.

I'm a little surprised that Jackson/Maple is only #9 on this list (although maybe it's down along with Blockbuster's business model). The difficulty of making a left onto Jackson from either side (Westgate or Blockbuster/Verizon) makes me wish there were a reasonable alternative like a Michigan Left.

Macabre Sunset

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 2 p.m.

Maybe it's the stress of having to deal with the Carpenter/Washtenaw/23 mess, which has to be the worst-designed intersection since the invention of the horse and carriage. Even 25 years ago, that intersection stood out as testimony to poor planning and the county's complete inability to time lights properly.

treetowncartel

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 1:48 p.m.

Keith and Laura, if we can figure it out why can't the Pittsfield Township Planning Commission? That is Pittsfield there right? They should do what they did at the old Bill Knapps at Washtenaw and Carpenter, forcing all traffic east with the driveway design.

AnnArBO

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 1:15 p.m.

I'd like to know who times the lights going north on Maple out of town toward Skyline. I've tried going below the limit, right at it, and slightly above, and you get stopped at Vets Park entrance then again at the top of the hill, and again at miller..........Come on you green folks this wastes gas...........

Laura Bien

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 12:10 p.m.

treetowncartel said: "The Carpenter and Packard intersection is up at the top due to the fact people attempt to pull out of the parking lot just west of Carpenter on Packard." Yep, we've seen folks pulling westbound out of the gas station on the SW corner of Carpenter-Packard, making a left turn against at least 5 lanes of traffic. They sneak through gaps in the eastbound traffic which is paused, waiting for the light, and enter the westbound lane without any warning to oncoming westbound drivers--a true bonehead move. Safety of one's own and others' lives is not even comparable to shaving 2 seconds off one's arrival time or convenience.

C. Kamm

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 12:10 p.m.

Jackson/Zeeb being toward the top is not surprising. Many people try to turn left from Zeeb on to Jackson, not realizing it's set up for the "Michigan left" boulevard turn. I wonder if they are also including the Meijer entrance immediately west in this, too, as that intersection is poorly marked as to who can go when.

Keith

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 12:01 p.m.

I work within a block of Carpenter and Packard. The amount of people that try tocross multiple lanes of traffic after pulling out from either the gas station, parking lots, etc are ridiculous. I've seen at least 5 crashes in the past year due to people letting cars cross cross the 1st lane just to get nailed by another car driving at full speed in the next lane or in the oncoming lanes that couldn't see them pulling out. I wish people didn't cross 3 lanes of stopped traffic to get to their lane, just make the appropriate safe turns to get to the direction you need to go. It might take an extra 2-3 minutes, but it would save a life (or at least the life of a car, haha)!

tidge

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 11:55 a.m.

" number 1 is Washtenaw Avenue between Carpenter Road and US-23 " It probably *is* the busiest, but that section is only about 1/8 of a mile long! (And adjacent to Washtenaw/Hogback) I'm not sure why Carpenter would figure so prominently (see also Hogback/Washtenaw at number 2). In my daily experience, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of the traffic lights either on Carpenter or those immediately before on roads that intersect Carpenter...which possibly leads to erratic "racing"? The exits/entrances to the various shopping areas aren't particularly well configured for traffic: The first entrance to the Meijer gas is quite close to the right-turn lane for Northbound traffic, I've seen the next entrance completely blocked by a left-turning AATA and a right turning truck! further north, the only reliable north (and later west)bound exit from Kroger/Home Depot is at the light. Even with a center turn lane it is not safe to try to otherwise go north. Again, this is partially due to the lights (South near Target, north at Packard) and partially due to erratic speeds.

treetowncartel

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 11:19 a.m.

The Carpenter and Packard intersection is up at the top due to the fact people attempt to pull out of the parking lot just west of Carpenter on Packard. They either need a signal there, or they need to make left turns illegal for some or all of the day.

wuttha

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 11:14 a.m.

I think a lot of cars cross Carpenter. Also, the speed limit on Carpenter is 45; my experience is that the range of speed that people actually go is very wide compared to other roads in Washtenaw county. For instance, I've been behind cars going as slow as 30. I've also had cars blow past me while I was doing 45.

Barb

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 11:05 a.m.

Probably has to do with how many cars travel and cross Carpenter.

Laura Bien

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 10:48 a.m.

Carpenter Rd. is the culprit in 3 of the 4 top danger spots. That's odd--what is it about this particular road that makes it so dangerous for drivers? Is it engineered any differently (wider, narrower) or is there some other reason?

Barb

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 10:48 a.m.

The good thing about those roundabouts though is that they keep the speeds down so any accidents there would hopefully not be serious.

janeqdoe

Tue, Aug 25, 2009 : 10:39 a.m.

I believe that we will soon see a new accident hotspot in Ann Arbor: M-14 @ North Maple Rd. So many people who use these two roundabouts have absolutely no clue what they are doing and no concept of how roundabouts are supposed to work.