ALAIEDON TWP., Mich. — The Ingham County Road Department has finished a safety study on Hagadorn and Sandhill roads, an intersection that’s drawn safety complaints.
There a number of reasons the Ingham County Road Department says there will be no stop signs and no four-way stop at the intersection, but those reasons are not answers residents wanted to hear.
Nancie Gillengerten has lived at the intersection for more than 40 years and she says cars speed up and down the roads way faster than the 55 miles per hour limit.
Gillengerten says it’s so dangerous, two months ago she was holding her two-year-old grandson and watering her flowers when a Jeep came speeding into the yard-inches from hitting them.
“He’s two years old and he yelled ‘grandma, Jeep’. So I turned like this just in time to see color just fly right on by me,” said Gillengerten
Neighbors complained enough that the county road department did a traffic study. The results show the number of cars traveling through the intersection isn’t high enough for a traffic signal or four-way stop. There were enough crashes at the intersection for a four-way stop. But the county is following MDOT’s recommendation that they not make a controlled stop.
“Typically traffic decisions are made by warrants provided in a uniform manual that we’re required by Michigan law to follow. It’s not a case of popular opinion or what the public desires but what’s appropriate for the location,” said Gillengerten.
Conklin says Sandhill Road has a much lower traffic volume than Hagadorn Road and the intersection currently meets the minimum visibility requirements.
“We have done a lot of trimming of vegetation out there. We’ve added some additional signs on the backs of the opposing stop signs at the Sandhill approaches to indicate that the crossroad does not stop,” said Conklin.
But the people who live there say that’s not enough.
“Of course, we’re disappointed, it’s our safety, my grandsons,” said Gillengerten. “The last thing I heard was his voice we could not be here.”
Her neighbor agrees.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be enough,” said Mark Fromm who’s lived there for five years. “I think it’s maybe gonna help a little bit, but I don’t think it’s going to stop the amount of accidents that we have at this corner.”
Now the school is back in session, the Ingham County Road Department tells News 10 that another study will be done this falls to see if those traffic count numbers differ.
The county road department has applied for a grant to widen the shoulder on Hagadorn Road and improve visibility on both roads. They'll find out if they get that money by the end of the year.
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