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Community Corner

Are the Signs for Coolidge Construction Adequate?

One resident says the work in Huntington Woods has led to a barrage of lost home health care professionals, delivery people and visitors circling misleading detours.

Now approaching the two-month mark, construction to repave the northbound lane of Coolidge in Huntington Woods is nothing new around town.

In fact, the blazing orange signs, cones dotting the lanes and stop-and-go traffic in that area might be familiar and mundane now.

It certainly is for longtime Huntington Woods resident Julie Hazan, especially after she saw the . But for her, she says this time is different and much more difficult – not necessarily for people like her who have spent their entire lives in the city, but everyone else.

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“I’ve seen construction projects use very creative ways of informing the people (of detours). This is not one of them,” she said.

Residents trying to keep up with daily routine

Since the , Hazan said she's heard the frustration of lost book club members, visiting friends and family, delivery people and even home health care professionals mixed up in the shuffle of construction.

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Hazan said that for the people who aren’t familiar with the area, especially the winding streets and detours leading them a mile away from Coolidge in each direction, finding a residential destination during the construction can be daunting.

“It’s not that we don’t have enough signs up, it’s that they aren’t adequate,” she said. “Even with the detour directing people to Greenfield, that’s not getting the people who need to get into Huntington Woods there. It’s about courtesy.”

With nearly three more months of construction work to go, Hazan has been contacting city officials and project managers from the beginning to encourage solutions to the issue she said many other residents have been talking about.

“Road Closed” signs don’t help people find their way and driving a mile out to be redirected onto major routes certainly doesn’t either, she said, adding that she’s had no luck with the city.

For Hazan, the frustration of scattered people asking for help delivering a package, getting to another street and mapping out the neighborhood is frustrating to her.

City manager: Construction tough without help

City Manager Alex Allie said all the signage meets each standard the city needs, but he understands construction is often difficult.

“If you have a GPS, it will tell you how to get where you’re going and most people do get through their routes like that,” he said. “But without that, it’s confusing if all they know is Coolidge.”

Lincoln is open and can be accessed (leading to other north and south streets besides Coolidge), but detours approved by the Michigan Department of Transportation don’t allow routes through residential areas, Allie said.

“(Detours) take people to other state highways, you don’t show them how to just cut through Huntington Woods,” he said, adding that “there’s not a way to sign for it any other way.”

Paying attention is key

Allie believes the confusion started at the beginning of the project, with motorists not paying attention to the signs that were placed. One example is the issue the city and construction managers had with .

“These kinds of things happen,” Allie said. “People do what they need to get through, even if that means passing barricades.”

Project Manager Larry Harworth said last month that . “I think people have started to know that we are out there and are following the detour," he said. "There are not as many people going the wrong way or turning around.”

Allie added that he would look into the issue of signage, but for Hazan, the issue just might be in the way the project was designed.

“Last time (Coolidge was repaved) was different because there was two-way traffic,” Hazan said, explaining that the Oak Park and Huntington Woods sides were completed in stages, so traffic could go in both directions throughout the entire project.

“I think there was an expectation this time around, too. You usually don’t close an entire lane, but in this case they closed all the northbound traffic.”

She believes the setup agitates the confusion, especially with the turn lane strictly being used for a staging lane during the project. “It’s reasonable to assume that where there are two lanes seen, there’s one going south and one going north," she said. "It’s understandable that (cars are driving the wrong way).”

The benefit of knowing Huntington Woods

For locals who are familiar with the Huntington Woods area, the detours might not be as dreadful.

Matthew Hix, branch manager at the bank on Coolidge said that since the construction began in April, customers were adaptable to the changes.

“We’ve remained pretty busy over there and the city has been very good about making sure everything is set up and going the way it’s supposed to,” he said.

Chase’s primary entrance was moved to Lincoln and Hix says there haven’t been complaints from any customers that he knows of. The signage to direct customers to the bank’s entrance has always been there to guide them, he said.

“As time goes on, people are getting used to it," Hix said. "I’d say we have just as many customers as we’ve always had.”

What readers are saying

Since April, Berkley-Huntington Woods Patch readers have been sharing their experiences of dealing with a summer of construction. In addition to first giving the lead that people were driving the wrong way on Coolidge once the northbound lane was closed, they’ve offered their own suggestions as comments on recent stories:

  • : Would be nice if there was a sign with no thru traffic at 10 mile and Kipling. it is a residential area and people are driving thru way too fast.
  • : While I've seen pretty good compliance, some people need to be reminded that all the north-south routes in HW are 25 MPH zones. There are lots of kids and pets about. The detours are frustrating, but for pete's sake, slow down.

What do you think?

With different sides of the story suggesting it could be complicated signs, a poorly designed route or just drivers not being cautious enough, what do you think? Is the signage for the Coolidge construction adequate for motorists to maneuver the detours efficiently and safely? Does your answer change if it’s someone who is not familiar with Huntington Woods?

Weigh in on the poll and share your thoughts in the comments area below.

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