JACKSON, Mich — The East Michigan Avenue road diet here in Jackson County proposed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has Blackman Township concerned that fire trucks such as the one you see behind me might not be able to make turns into side streets.
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Plan are in place to convert most of the stretch of East Michigan from Page Avenue just past the US-127 down from two lanes in each director to one lane each and a left turn lane.
It's not an issue for most cars... but most cars aren't as big as fire trucks.
"It's a significant difference when it comes to making a turn safely," says Steve Stowe, Deputy Director of Operation for Blackman Township Public Safety.
Stowe says meetings with the Department left him concerned about emergency response: "A lot of times it was explained to us that they use a semi tractor and trailer for their turning radius."
Unlike semi tractor-trailers, Stowe points out that these fire trucks are single-axle vehicles, which means they don't pivot when they make a turn.
So, if lanes are reduced or a road is narrowed, the question are: how far into oncoming traffic will those trucks turn and is there enough room for others to move out of the way?
Stowe feels MDOT is listening to those concerns.. which I also discussed with MDOT representative John Richard. Richard explained to me that the planned East Michigan Avenue road diet — slated to begin no sooner than 2028 — does not mean the overall width of the pavement will be reduced.
"From curb to curb, it's not changing," says Richard. "They're just going to re-stripe it."
Richard believes the rebuild won't impede emergency vehicles:
"We do road diets all over the state all the time and that's not an issue. We have the same issues about roundabouts, as well. They think they're not going to be able to make that tight turning radius, but, just like roundabouts, just like road diets — it's not an issue."
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