The Chelsea POP project is close to completion and feedback has been positive, the Chelsea Transportation Working Group learned last week during its monthly meeting that took place via Zoom on Aug. 27.
Chelsea partnered with the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (WATS) for the project that officially launched Sept. 1 and includes traffic calming road markings on Freer Road, Railroad, McKinley and Dewey streets aimed at slowing vehicular traffic in key areas where pedestrians and bicyclists converge on the roads.
More information can be found at the project website at www.miwats.org/chelseapop.
In fact, Mayor Melissa Johnson said she’s had requests to broaden the scope to other areas in the city such as Washington Street, but she also thinks more education explaining some of the markings (such as the cross hatchings on the turns) is needed.
Additional signage is being placed in the intersection right of ways to draw additional attention to the 30-day project. WATS is now working on a survey that will be distributed to get feedback from residents about this traffic calming and safety project to help determine future projects.
The group also learned that the Sibley Road reconstruction project is currently on track for July 2021. City Manager John Hanifan said it’s a $300,000-$350,000 project that may include extending the sidewalks from M-52 past the ball fields to link to the current sidewalks near the entrance to Timbertown. The project bid documents are due to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) by October and the project will be bid out in March 2021 with a possible start date of July 1, 2021. The project is also included in small urban project funding for motorized and non-motorized grant funding.
I think broadening the area is a good idea. For instance, there is nothing at Madison and AD Mayer Drive that leads to the middle school. Adding Washington Street intersections would be helpful, for instance at East and Flanders Streets