Commission says NO to MDOT left turn lane
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) asked the Onaway city commission to consider including the addition of a left turn lane at the intersection of M-68 and M-211 as part of the project already proposed for M-68.
The city was notified of the idea last month and was told the decision was its to make. At that time the commission elected to have city manager Joe Hefele notify the business owners who would be affected if the turn lane were installed.
Those who would be affected were invited to the Wednesday morning city commission meeting to discuss their opinions on the issue with the board. Before hearing comments from business owners, mayor Gary Wregglesworth stated that he could have gone either way on the issue and needed to hear from those who would be directly affected before he could make any decision.
Hefele gave the background on the request, stating the Michigan State Police supported it. Hefele then brought up an idea that came from a city public works employee, that the city commission should consider the number of big semi trucks that go through the town that with the turn lane would be routed closer to the sidewalk where pedestrians are.
The commissioners agreed it was a good point and they didn?t like the idea of having the traffic closer to the sidewalks where people are walking.
Ron Rittner of Flamingo Studios was the business owner who took time to do research and spoke to the commission about the issue while fellow business owner Floyd Booth was present at the meeting.
Rittner checked into all the businesses that would be affected by the installation of a turn lane. He started with the post office, which is a high traffic area and with the loss of on-street parking the parking spots would be a very hot commodity.
Rittner spoke about many issues that he would have if he was reduced to just the three parking spots on the side of his building. He also studied the other buildings and busi
?We simply cannot afford to give up those spaces,? said Rittner. He spoke about the Michigan Works building?s main entrance being the handicap accessible entrance, and how that building is busy all day long with people who are there for a short time.
After hearing the concerns of Rittner, who did a fair job representing all the business owners who would be affected if the turn lane went in, the commissioners minds were pretty much made up, as they unanimously voted not to include a turn lane in the project.
MDOT asked them to include it because it cited 50 crashes in 60 months, however, in looking at those crashes the city commission determined there were only three accidents at the intersection, the rest were down M-68 or M-211 and some were car/deer accidents.