Thursday, April 26, 2012

Obstructing Traffic in Oshtemo

The leadership of Oshtemo Township has some strange ideas about traffic. Supervisor Elizabeth Heiny-Cogswell recently asserted that MDOT was conducting a study to eliminate left turns at the west entrance to Meijer. MDOT is denying this.

MDOT says it has made no recommendation for changes to Oshtemo Meijer east entry
MDOT recommends changes to Oshtemo Meijer east entry

There is no good reason to eliminate left turns. As MDOT points out, it is not a dangerous intersection. Sometimes you have to wait a while turning left onto West Main, but restricting left turns would force everyone onto 9th Street, which would take even longer.

This is part of a larger pattern. Since Heiney-Cogswell was elected, many new stoplights of dubious necessity have been added around Oshtemo. One particularly unnecessary light is at Stadium Drive and Venture Park. Venture has little traffic after 5, and left turners can always go to 11th street, so this light isn't necessary. It may well contribute to accidents rather than prevent them.

Another conundrum is the light at the railroad tracks on Drake Road on the boundary of Oshtemo and Kalamazoo. As I have written before, it occasionally turns red for no apparent reason.

No comments: