FeedsBeck-Ford intersection due for improvements
The good news is that the Ford-Beck intersection in Canton Township is due for improvements.
The bad news is won’t happen for at least two years.
“That’s if we can find the funding,” said Greg Johnson, regional engineer for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The Michigan Department of Transportation conducted a safety feasibility study at the busy intersection throughout the summer, according to Will Mathies, a safety engineer for the Metro region at MDOT. He said the organization looks at the roadway from all angles to determine if improvements are needed.
“We look for a pattern when we do crash evaluations,” said Mathies. “If there is no pattern, there’s nothing happening. When we have a pattern, we know we have a problem.”
They found a pattern, all right.
Between 2003 and 2007, there were more than 120 crashes at the intersection he said. Of those, 53 were rear end collisions, 39 were angle/straight/, 29 were caused by left turns and six were head on impacts.
Johnson said MDOT met with nearby homeowners to get their input on the intersection and the organization has formed a plan to address the safety at the site. The plan is to widen the Ford Road portion of the intersection to five lanes. The best fix, according to Matheis, would be to widen both approaches to five lanes, but Beck Road is a county road and MDOT has no jurisdiction over it.
“Hopefully that will come in the future,” Matheis said.
Johnson said the improvements would cost about $3.5 million. They would seek safety grants for the funding, but even so, improvements probably wouldn’t happen until the 2011 construction season.
“If you can reduce the number of accidents at an intersection, it makes it more competitive,” he said of the grant application.
The Beck Road approach may be even more costly, according to Matheis, because of the proximity of a small waterway.
“There’s a creek there and that’s a constraint,” he said. “When you touch water, you have to deal with the environmental impact—and that isn’t easy.”
