SPRINGFIELD TWP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dixie Highway in Northern Oakland County is notorious for crashes, driving so many crazy. The Road Commission for Oakland County believes they have a solution: a road diet.
Watch Ali Hoxie's report below
The commission is pitching bringing Dixie down to one lane in each direction, which would make room for a center turn lane. But that idea is not sitting well with some people.
Jennifer Foster, who wrote us expressing her concerns, said in part, “People just trying to pull out of their road who live off of Dixie Hwy (like myself). It's bad enough right now at 7am with 2 lanes each way. I can't imagine them taking one away. Then... when traffic is diverted onto Dixie Hwy from an accident that occurred on I75. That's bad now.”
Dixie is one of the main roadways through this section of Oakland County, so there are a lot of questions on the impact of reducing the roadway.
“I don’t see the reasoning, this is creating a bigger problem," Foster told me.
Foster lives near Dixie Highway and reached out to us about a proposed revamp to Dixie. She worries her way of life would be forever altered if the plans go through.
“I do agree we need a turning lane, but taking it down to one lane in each direction is horrid, horrid," Foster said.
The plan would reduce Dixie to one lane in each direction from Davisburg to I-75 in Genesee County, making room for a center turn lane.
But Foster brought up multiple concerns with me. She worries traffic will get backed up, especially with Dixie being the go-to to get around crashes on nearby I-75. And then there is the increase traffic from the Renaissance Festival. According to the festival's website, 250,000 visitors go to the festival each year.
“They use one lane each way for the renaissance festival to keep the backup traffic in, so what are they going to do for that?" Foster wondered.
I took her concerns to the Road Commission for Oakland County. Spokesperson Craig Bryson tells me they are also looking at I-75 traffic being detoured to Dixie.
“We believe that they, what we are proposing would still adequately accommodate that traffic, but we are certainly willing to discuss that, and that is something that we are talking to the communities about as well," Bryson said. “The problem is, if I-75 were to be shutdown, Dixie Highway is going to be congested to matter what we do.”
According to data provided by the Road Commission for Oakland County, nearly 42 percent of crashes in the area are rear-end crashes.
Bryson says a road diet with the installation of a turn lane could help.
“The challenge right now is you got people turning left from a through lane, which is not ideal we got a lot of rear-end collisions," Bryson said.
He also said there is not enough traffic volume on the northern portion of the roadway to justify widening the road to accommodate for a turn lane and keep two lanes.
This is not the first time I've had issues on Dixie brought to my attention. Back in December, I spoke to Springfield Township Fire Chief Matt Covey about the need for a traffic light outside the station at Dixie and Rattalee Lake. The proposal would call for installing a traffic light at the intersection.
Watch our previous coverage
That being said, Covey tells me he does have concerns.
“The road commission laid out some great safety statistics, and it made sense to me what they are saying, but it is the unknown that we are all worried about, like I said I-75 shut down is just a big concern," Covey said.
Now it is important to note that this is just in the talking stages; no construction is set in stone.
