LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – When it comes to construction, fixing the roads is something most Michiganders want, but some drivers in Lansing say some of the ramp closures are putting drivers in danger.
Drivers say the lack of signage near U.S 127 at Kalamazoo Street is causing people behind the wheel to stop abruptly, or come close to rear ending others.
One mother said she’s lucky she had her eyes on the roads when exiting at Kalamazoo Street, avoiding a distracted driver from rear-ending her at a high speed.
“I actually haven’t driven this route since that incident,” she said
“I keep having weird flashbacks about it.”
Last Thursday after picking up her two babies from daycare, Jali Clark exited 127 North to Kalamazoo Street and Homer. Once she came to a complete stop, she heard tires burning and then saw this.
“The screech was so loud, so I looked back, and I realized I had about a few seconds to react, not even. To swerve at the opposite direction of this other car that was coming towards me and my kids in the back,” she said.
Grateful that things ended differently, she believes the driver was not aware of the detour.
“He was going so fast that his car would’ve probably gone through our car and seriously injured or killed all of us. I’ve lost a baby myself so I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through that,” she said.
So she took to Facebook to make other drivers aware. The post has gotten almost 1,000 likes and hundreds of comments, catching the attention of other drivers.
“I’ve seen bumper-to-bumper accidents where people were just on the side where that exit is,” said Alexandra Dodds.
Alexandra Dodds saw Clark’s Facebook post and shared the story with MDOT.
“You don’t know that all of the cars are going to be at a complete stop at the lunch hour, or at 5 o’clock traffic or even morning traffic when people are coming into town,” said Dodds.
Now MDOT says it’s adding more signage since the detour to Kalamazoo street will stay in place during bridge construction at the Saginaw ramp, which remains closed.
Clark says she’s glad the community saw her concerns as valid and that action is being taken to make this ramp safer.
“We are working on optimizing the signal timing there heading North on Homer” said MDOT Construction Engineer Trevor Block.
Clark’s glad that her post is helping make change in the community.
“Sometimes maybe things just get missed, and just one post can change and make a difference,” said Clark.
The MDOT engineer says he’s grateful for the post Clark made on Facebook, and hopes more drivers in the community read it, but also read the orange signs on the sides of the roads moving forward.
