SALINE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Residents in Saline say their usually quiet downtown strip has been overrun by heavy gravel trucks hauling materials for what is expected to become Michigan's largest data center, and they are demanding relief from what they describe as nonstop noise, dust and safety concerns.
Hundreds of trucks a day are rolling through downtown Saline along Michigan Avenue, hauling materials to a construction site in Saline Township just a few miles away, where Oracle and OpenAI are building the massive data center.
Saline resident Anita Rochefort said the speed of the trucks is what concerns her most.
"They're so fast. I mean again, I am not wimpy, but it's almost kind of scary," Rochefort said.
Fellow resident Bruce Demaine said he is worried about the damage the heavy haulers could do to recently repaved roads.
"Saline... spent the last couple of years spent thousands probably hundreds of thousands of dollars redoing Route 12 through the city and on each end, and with these extra weighted trucks, it's going to tear that stuff up," Demaine said.
Not everyone along Michigan Avenue shares the same level of alarm. Steve Babiack, owner of Benny's Bakery in downtown Saline, said he is accepting the disruption as part of doing business.
"Hopefully, the roads will hold up. Right now, I think they're doing good and let's let commerce go. It's going to be loud, but it's always loud," Babiack said.
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While reporting at the corner of Ann Arbor Street and Michigan Avenue, I captured video of one of the trucks running a red light. I contacted Saline Mayor Brian Marl, who said the city is already taking steps to address the problem.
"Just last week, the city manager, police chief and I met with Walbridge, who is overseeing construction activity at the data center site, to talk about a number of these issues. Most specifically, the increased amount of truck traffic. Trucks not respecting our speed limits and the potential having trucks potentially over the weight limit," Marl said.
Marl said there will be additional traffic enforcement, and the city plans to take action at the next city council meeting this coming Monday.
A spokesperson for Oracle and OpenAI offered a timeline for when conditions may improve.
"By early spring, much of the interior roads on our site will be paved and therefore, the gravel deliveries will be finished. That will greatly alleviate some of what the community feels right now, in terms of the volume of trucks," the spokesperson said.
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For residents like Rochefort, that timeline cannot come soon enough.
"I'd love to know the time frame on when they're going to finish that data center," Rochefort said.
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