WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Residents in a Waterford Township neighborhood are demanding action over what they describe as dangerous speeding on Van Zandt Road, particularly by students traveling to and from Kettering High School.
"It's been long enough — we've had enough," Karen Krupa said.
Watch Jolie Sherman's video report below:
The road has become a major concern for those living nearby, who report witnessing alarming driving behaviors on a regular basis.
"Speeding like beyond your belief," Rich Bollman said.
"I've seen people probably doing 80. I've seen people jump the curb and end up on the bike path. I've seen cars flip over onto my neighbor's yard," Sheila Bollman said.
Hear more from Sheila Bollman below:
Residents say the road becomes particularly congested during school dismissal times and evening rush hour, with many drivers using it as a shortcut to access main roads.
"It's overloaded with cars when school lets out and from when all the businesses in the area close with people going home," Krupa said.
"My concern is the safety of our students, of our walkers. This is a neighborhood and it's being used as a cut-through," Sheila Bollman said.
To reduce traffic in the neighborhood, residents are asking the district to close a gate near the school when classes are not in session.
Despite a sign indicating the gate should be closed during "non-school hours," residents say this rarely happens, sharing a recent photo showing the gate open after 9 p.m.
The school district responded in a statement: "During school hours, the gate is open for essential access by buses and emergency vehicles. It is consistently secured from Friday evening through early Monday morning, and during all holiday breaks."
The district added that the gate sometimes remains open on weekends for scheduled athletic events. They also noted that weekly reminders are sent to staff and students about driving safely around school property, and that they are working closely with law enforcement to address speeding concerns.
When asked about residents feeling ignored regarding their safety concerns, Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood responded.
"I can certainly understand anybody being concerned about the safety, especially when it comes to traffic issues. Ignored? I would say that that's not the case. We've spent a lot of time on Van Zandt. We've done both formal and informal traffic studies over there. We've conducted extensive enforcement efforts more so than most of the traffic complaints than we've received in this township," he said.
Underwood said out of 10,000 cars they monitored over the course of two weeks, they found 66% of drivers traveled under the speed limit (25 mph or less), 90% drove within 4 miles over of the speed limit (29 mph or less) and nearly 99% of the traffic that traveled that roadway was under 34 mph.
"While I would say those are speeding issues, and certainly we want to enforce those when we view them, we didn't see some of the things that were suggested by some of the residents," Underwood said.
However, neighbors say their requests are straightforward.
"Just security, just some sort of peace of mind, anything. The slightest. Any step in the direction toward safety," Rich Bollman said.
—————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
