Pittsfield Township's Arbor Woods subdivision residents looking for ways to calm traffic
Residents in the Arbor Woods subdivision in Pittsfield Township have been trying to find ways to slow the traffic that travels through the housing complex on Hawks Avenue since 2005.
Twice, residents have met with Washtenaw County Road Commission officials expressing their concerns about traffic and speeding in the subdivision.
Subsequently, in two areas of the subdivision, speed “humps” and islands were installed to calm traffic on Hawks Avenue, a road that residents say is used as a cut-through for traffic because there are connections to Packard Boulevard and Carpenter Road.
“Residents say at night, when the stores close, there’s a sudden surge to get through to Packard,” said Doug Fuller, chairman of the Road Commission board.
Roy Townsend, director of engineering for the Road Commission said Tuesday afternoon that in 2008, a traffic study was conducted and nine speed humps and two islands were added in the northern part of the subdivision at the homeowners’ expense.
Then, in the spring of 2010, five speed humps and one island were installed in the southern part of the subdivision. But when residents reported that speeds had not changed, another traffic study was conducted that showed the speeds had decreased by 2-3 mph.
The speed limit in the subdivision is 25 mph, and township police have worked with residents in the area, staff said. But residents said that the increased traffic had not abated.
Washtenaw County Road Commissioner Fred Veigel
Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com
Townsend said that residents are still concerned about the “large amount of traffic that travels these roads.”
One option would be to turn the public roads into private roads but then the homeowners’ association would have to maintain the roads, which is costly.
The homeowners asked the Road Commission to consider three ways to try and solve the problem. One suggestion was to make the Hawks Avenue and Packard Road intersection a right-turn in with full access out of the subdivision.
The second idea was a right turn into the subdivision and a right turn out of it. A third option was a right turn into the subdivision only to limit the additional traffic.
“This is nothing we’ve done with a residential street before,” Townsend said about the restricted access, although these are solutions that the Road Commission has used for access to commercial properties.
As it was a discussion topic for the Road Commission, no decision was made, but staff was encouraged to continue working with the homeowners to find a solution.
Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.
Comments
dufus
Mon, May 30, 2011 : 2:16 p.m.
Local cab companies received a letter from the neighborhood association for this subdivision a year or so ago instructing cabs not to drive there unless serving a resident. Many drivers felt they had no basis for making this demand and it is gratifying to see that Mr. Viegel agrees. I wish this article included some specific research on relevant laws and such. I don't know if Mr. Viegel's opinion is an informed opinion, though he ought to know.
loves_fall
Tue, May 24, 2011 : 2:07 a.m.
So in follow up: I just ran from 8:45-9:15ish in Arbor Woods -- which, in my mind, is about when stores close. In 25 minutes, I saw the following: 24 vehicles, including 1 mildly speeding (35-ish mph I would guess) Jeep that didn't seem to react to speed bumps, two confirmed residents, one roll through a stop sign, five pedestrians including one accompanied and one unaccompanied child, one person on a bike, and two other runners. What I did notice was a series of four cars exiting the sub towards Carpenter, held up because it takes so long for most of them to go over the speed humps. Except for the Jeep and the rolling stop, everyone was driving (in my opinion) appropriately for conditions and again I didn't see any threat to life or limb. In the same 25 minutes, I am willing to bet that HUNDREDS of cars drove by on Packard and Carpenter instead of driving through the subdivision. One observation that I did have is that they could put up stop signs on other streets (Center Valley, Knollcrest or whatever that northward street is) instead of giving traffic on its way through only really one mandatory stop. I really don't see the problem though. Ultimately, Pittsfield Twp residents, whether Arbor Woods folks or not, are paying the taxes that go towards maintaining the road and I think we should all have equal access to it. If there's some evidence that safety is being compromised, maybe it's worth more of a look, but I see this as being a waste of money and township effort to quell the complaints of people who probably won't be satisfied until they have exclusive access. Having traffic between two really busy streets is just a fact of life and should have been a consideration before moving to the neighborhood.
Ben
Mon, May 23, 2011 : 1:04 p.m.
I would like to see the analysis that led to this "large volume of traffic" characterization. My solution: Close the road where it joins the shopping center. Oh, that would inconvenience the residents? Welcome to the party then. Your speed humps inconvenience me already. Close the road and keep them all to yourselves.
loves_fall
Mon, May 23, 2011 : 12:19 p.m.
"I have a real problem with this," said Road Commissioner Fred Veigel. "You keep calling it a cut through, these are public roads and people can drive through just like they can drive on any public road; you could say that about any road in our jurisdiction." Good call, Veigel. This is ridiculous. I "cut through" on Hawks frequently because it is the most direct line between those stores and my place and that's exactly the point -- it's a PUBLIC road to PUBLIC places, and these people need to either stop whining or choose to make it private and pay for it themselves. I run and bike down there all the time and while there are lots of kids, I have personally never seen anyone traveling at speeds higher than around 30 and certainly never do anything dangerous. Even so, I notice when I drive to and from there, I get glares from the residents regardless of what speed I'm traveling. I think they're just being possessive and need to get over themselves.
Adam Jaskiewicz
Mon, May 23, 2011 : 12:16 p.m.
Make the street narrower. A good way to do that is to park along the street, rather than in your driveway. Also, plant shade trees and low flowers and shrubs along the sides of the street. Ride your bike in the street. Drivers go fast when they feel like they can see and anticipate everything; if you've got parked cars and dappled lighting filtering through trees, it makes things unpredictable. Hold regular block parties. Hang out in your front yard, not your back yard. Chat with your neighbors at the foot of your driveway. Is a child going to dart out from between those parked cars? Is that movement over there a child's ball, or just a patch of sunlight shining between the leaves of the tree? Is that car door about to open? Can I pass the bicyclist without hitting oncoming traffic? Is anyone from the cookout going on in that driveway about to cross the street? Keep drivers asking themselves questions, and you'll slow them down. Tell them what to do, and they'll resent and ignore it.
AlfaElan
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 6:03 p.m.
This is real easy to fix. All they have to do is close Blossom Hill trail between Hawks and Knollcrest. Simple and cheap, although I am sure the residence will then complain about having to go through Packard and Carpenter intersection.
jns131
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 2:26 p.m.
We have tried for years including petitions to get people to slow down in on our street as well, with little or not results. Good luck to residents complaining. In this tough economy? The road commissioner isn't going to listen when he has a bridge to build in Ann Arbor. I call it diligence and effort to put up signs that say children at play.
Andy
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 3:12 p.m.
you might want to read an article from this week on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of "Children at play" signs: <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2293460/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.slate.com/id/2293460/</a>
kathryn
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 1:06 p.m.
Someone wrote: "The residents of the subdivision understood that the sub had entrances on both Carpenter and Packard when they bought their homes. Caveat emptor." By that argument, no roads should ever be changed. Carpenter is too busy? Caveat emptor...the businesses should have know that when they built there. Traffic too slow? Caveat emptor...leave more time to get where you are going. This attitude makes it impossible to improve anything. Instead, the city/township/county have responsibility to look at the changing traffic patterns AND the needs of the residents and visitors to their town and TRY to make adjustments as needed to meet the goals of the people. There will be conflicts...like this one: The 'needs' of some people to get where they are going faster conflict with the needs of neighborhoods for safe, reasonable of traffic on roads that were not designed for high volumes. Yes, the intersections around there are terrible. So, adjustments need to be made.... to improve traffic flow on Packard, and maybe also to make the neighborhood route a less attractive alternative. Just letting the traffic overflow into the neighborhoods is irresponsible.
local
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 12:24 p.m.
Inside: it is a public road, so unless the people of this subdivision want to make it private, their isn't much to be done. I live on a similar road, a road that is the only true go between of two main roads and the amount of traffic sucks. We fought on our street to get speed bumps and they have slowed the traffic down, but the quantity is still high. It is something that we unfortunately have to live with, but I don't blame the bureaucrats for the issue. Now if I really wanted to complain, I would complain about the condition of the road(s), that is a bigger issue.
YpsiLivin
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 12:23 p.m.
Veigel is correct in his concern: a road the public pays for, yet isn't entitled to use doesn't sound like a good use of public money. The residents of the subdivision understood that the sub had entrances on both Carpenter and Packard when they bought their homes. Caveat emptor. The real issue is that Carpenter can no longer accommodate the volume of traffic it is carrying, so naturally, people will use an alternative when one presents itself. The solution is simple: fix the traffic problems on Carpenter and you'll fix the traffic problems in the subdivision. The fix starts with redesigning the intersection at Packard and Carpenter so cars don't pile up in both directions while waiting for the uncomfortably long light cycles there. Add right-turn only lanes from Carpenter to Packard to separate the through traffic from the right-turn traffic and get the "right-on-Packard" drivers to where they're going faster. Add a second left turn (or make the first through lane a driver's choice of left-or-through) on northbound Carpenter to westbound Packard, so drivers heading back to Ann Arbor aren't waiting for two or three light cycles to get through the intersection. Eliminate the no-turn-on-red signs to help clear out right turns. Move the entrances to the gas stations away from the intersection, so people don't further complicate street traffic by trying to get in and out of the gas stations, and move the bus stops farther away from the intersection so a stopping bus doesn't plug up the traffic behind it immediately after going through the intersection. Finally, repave the intersection on the NB Carpenter side with some surface that can stand up to the cement trucks, so drivers don't feel like they're driving down a staircase when they approach the light. Instead of treating the symptoms, treat the real problem and improve things for everyone.
Ann English
Sat, Aug 11, 2012 : 12:30 a.m.
Thank you for explaining the behavior of other motorists that the reporter merely described, with no reasons given. My purpose for driving through the subdivision is completely different, and I drive in the opposite direction (south). I may approach that part of Hawks from the west, east, or straight across Packard, but I use it to get to Meijer, not to Carpenter Road itself. I agree about avoiding the long traffic lights at the Packard-Carpenter intersection, but the Carpenter-Washtenaw traffic lights are even worse; a left turn onto Packard needs a shorter time waiting than one onto Washtenaw, and a right turn taking me through residential areas north of Packard gets me back to Washtenaw Avenue.
loves_fall
Mon, May 23, 2011 : 12:23 p.m.
Yeah, Carpenter is a problem that really needs to be addressed by Pittsfield Twp. The traffic flow through there is just horrible (although I would concede that part of what makes it absolutely unbearable is the Washtenaw/Carpenter intersection).
Sarah
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 4:44 p.m.
When we bought our house, the road did not connect all the way through. I had no choice in the matter. That said, I saw the writing on the wall prior to purchase, so I didn't go in blind. However, the road was built to handle something under half of what it actually gets and the county, as you can imagine, has pretty much said "sorry, no budget" and the road is disintegrating (like many others).
ksr48
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 2:53 p.m.
Not correct. The public didn't pay to install this road at all. The residents and the developer paid to construct it. It just gets handed over to the road commission afterwards.
local
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 12:28 p.m.
This is well said, that intersection is terrible and the amount of people is increasing. Since the AATA put stops right on Washtenaw recently for the buses, I have been avoiding Washtenaw to get into Ann Arbor, instead choosing to use Packard. In front of Arborland and into Ann Arbor is completely a debacle on Washtenaw now with buses stopping every 100 feet it seems like.
InsideTheHall
Sun, May 22, 2011 : 11:27 a.m.
Mr. Viegel is an unelected appointed bureaucrat who has no accountability to the people. Beware, the County Transit Board is coming next with more bureaucrats! Another unelected government board who knows what is best for us.