By Megan Kelley
Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
CLARKSTON — The Clarkston City Council approved the purchase of crossing flags as well as the installation of concrete curbing at its meeting on Nov. 12.
In recent meetings, Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rodgers has expressed concern about the crosswalk on Main Street at E. Church Street in the downtown.
Despite numerous requests to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) for a formal pedestrian crossing system rather than the current “Yield to Pedestrian” sign that exists, the city has been unable to receive approval.
“The traffic situation continues to get abominable. It’s fast moving, the speed limit, whatever it is, is not being followed. I did see that the sheriff put a new speed detector right before Washington Street which, hopefully, is helping,” Rodgers said. “This is something that I’ve come across from other towns and cities…I feel like it’s worth a try. If MDOT is not going to come to our meetings, isn’t going to talk to us; we talked about a petition, how to go about doing that and that’s a goal for the new year. Short of that, I don’t have any answers but we continue to have people come to meetings telling us they almost got hit by a car, myself included. Common sense is not being used. The people driving, they’re not out to get us, they’re just not thinking.”
According to city Manager Jonathan Smith, there was an accident recently at the intersection of Holcomb Street and Washington Street where early in the morning someone was struck by a vehicle turning left onto southbound Holcomb.
Smith stated that though there are rumors there was a fatality, the man hit by the vehicle was taken to the hospital with a broken leg but he was not killed in the accident.
“It’s still concerning. I agree with Laura. The number of events is just continuing to increase, certainly, I hope that with construction on I-75 being shut down for the winter we’ll have at least a temporary reprieve here before next summer starts all over again,” Smith said.
The council voted 6-0 to purchase a See-Me Flag starter kit including 12 flags for $199.99. Council also approved additional funding in the amount not-to-exceed $500 in case of potential theft. Funding for the project will be from the city’s parking fund. Councilmember Peg Roth was absent from the meeting.
Later, the council also voted 6-0 to approve the installation of concrete curbing at the northwest corner of West Washington and Holcomb as well as the northeast corner of Robertson Court and Clarkston Road to address erosion issues.
The two sites have been reviewed by the city’s engineering firm, Hubbell, Roth and Clark, which recommended that curbing be installed to eliminate the risk of erosion and road asphalt failure.
The city received four bids for the project and selected Orozco Construction, the vetted lowest-cost contractor for the project.
Council approved the contract at a not-to-exceed cost of $24,937 for the curbing as well as 10% provisions in case of unforeseen work. Funding for the project will come from the city’s professional and contractual services budget.
Smith noted that because winters have been a bit warmer in the past several years, the contractor indicated that they could potentially have the project completed before Thanksgiving.