City to consider firm's recommendation of three-phase project, removal of mini-circle to adjust Bellows traffic flow
Removal of the mini-circle at the corner of Bellows and Arnold streets could be in the city’s plans for this year’s construction season.
On Tuesday, representatives from Orchard Hiltz & McCliment, Inc., a Livonia-based engineering advising firm, submitted to city commissioners a three-phase recommendation of how to alleviate Bellows’ traffic flow problems — something the mini-circle was originally intended to fix when it was installed two years ago.
“It’s fine with me to let other people experiment with them,” said City Manager Kathie Grinzinger. “This one just didn’t do what it was supposed to do. So it’s about time you just admit you tried something and it didn’t work.”
The circle was constructed in 2010 at a cost of about $75,000, according to previously published reports. However, when it was first tested, it was found not to be accessible for ladder trucks, costing the city an extra $2,500 in adjustments.
Commissioners first expressed interest in removing the circle and seeking more effective options at a meeting last October.
Since then, OHM has considered multiple studies, including Michigan Department of Transportation analyses of Mission and Bellows streets and Central Michigan University’s Master Plan, as well as some of its own recent collection of traffic data.
Craig Schripsema, senior project manager for OHM Mount Pleasant, said they additionally considered how CMU’s build of graduate student housing and situating the College of Medicine on North Campus would impact future traffic flow.
Based on OHM’s original proposal to conduct the study, Director of Public Works Roger Rousse said the firm cost the city $7,330.
Recommendations
The study’s findings concluded that Arnold and Bellows was simply the wrong location for a mini-circle, Schripsema said.
However, he said the narrowed lane size and installation bike lanes the city had in tandem with the mini-circle were of benefit.
OHM Traffic Services Manager Stephen Dearing said several adjustments to Bellows Street were recommended along with the mini-circle’s removal, because drivers have been often recorded traveling more than 40 miles per hour.
“You just have to think of different locations, different treatments to get there,” Dearing said.
The later of the two phases include two options based on cost:
- Phase one would entail removal of the circle and installation of a temporary speed table, which has a shorter elevation than a speed bump. Estimated cost: $10,000.
- Phase two’s first option would install a raised intersection at Fancher and Bellows streets, costing an estimated $85,000. Its second, alternate option would install more than one speed table or raised pedestrian crossing, costing about $38,000.
- Phase three would install roundabouts where Bellows crosses with Washington Street and East Campus Drive, costing about $400,000. Its second option would construct complete raised intersections where Bellows crosses with Main Street, University Avenue and Franklin Street, with an estimated $800,000 cost.
“I want safety but I also want the traffic to move," Commissioner Sharon Tilmann said.
Dearing said the recommended measures weren’t intended to change traffic volume, but to help change speeds in an efficient manner.
If commissioners want to carry out Phase I this year, Grinzinger said a 2012 budget amendment, which would remove the traffic circle and probably purchase the table, could be presented to commissioners at an upcoming meeting, at which point they can make a decision.
