Crossing Main Street In Lowell - 15 Years of Frustration

12/7/17 - UPDATE - There is a general consensus of customers, business owners, as well as the City Manager and Chief of Police that in addition to a cross walk with a light that requires vehicles to stop for pedestrians, we also need to bug MDOT to put in dedicated left turn signals at the light where M-21 intersects with Hudson Street. (You know, where the Shell station and the Historical Museum are.)

FYI: City Manager Burns would like to see a HAWK system installed. They have them in Fenton, where he was Asst. City Manager.

With the HAWK system, when a pedestrian presses a button, the red lights flash and

traffic stops to let folks cross. Can you imagine how nice that would be in Lowell??

So, our MISSION people is to keep polite, but insistent, pressure on Jason Cole - he is the person from MDOT who is assigned to work with the City Of Lowell. He does return calls - Jason can be reached at 616-464-1781. Call him and ask that he do what ever he can to get us a cross walk that stops traffic and the dedicated Left Turn signals we NEED. 


INTERNET DISCLAIMER: Please don't the impression that I believe crossing the street in Lowell is a problem that began 15 years ago - it has been a problem for longer than that. However, traffic volume is very high and in the last 2-3 years our downtown has become FULL of new businesses. In my block - we have full occupancy, something I have never seen in 15 years. The combination of more people living, eating, and shopping in Lowell is making the problem bigger than ever.

The latest chapter of the book - How To Cross The %$#@ Street in Lowell is the culmination of 15 years of frustration for yours truly and many others who live/work/shop in Lowell.
I am fairly certain I am not alone in being shocked to find out that it is AGAINST the law to stop for a pedestrian on Main Street - known to MDOT as M-21, a Michigan Highway. While it was sure nice of our police department to explain the law to all of us operating under the assumption that 99 times out of 100 anybody who rear ends another vehicle is going to be up for a citation, the obvious consequence will be less vehicles stopping to let folks cross the street..
That is just bloody terrific.
As the owner of a mom and pop, downtown business that happens to have a state highway for a street address, I would like to give you a fly over of our 15 years and any effort to make it safe and easy for people (read "customers and potential customers") to cross our street.
First I would like to harken back to the days when Gov Granholm ran the Mitten and the concept of Cool Cities was introduced state wide. There was actually a list of things places like Lowell could do and create in order to win the designation of being a "Cool City". I believe it was 2004 - shortly after Julie and I opened Chimera Design in Lowell.
You can read about it here: Cool Cities Initiative
I would draw your attention to page 10 which lists the attributes of a Cool City. NUMBER ONE ITEM is "Walkability/Pedestrian Friendly". First on the list - top priority. Makes sense, right? Well, that was the last thing to make sense to come from MDOT and/or the State of Michigan regarding crossing Main Street in Lowell.
At the very first meeting I attended with MDOT folks, the first question was, "Have you had any fatalities?" Not the best foot to start on, eh? It suggested to me that since no one had died while trying to come to my store after having lunch at the Flat River Grill, there was really nothing to complain about.
Our frustration with the constant stream of "no" from MDOT resulted in a petition drive at Main Street businesses asking for a light - we sent them to Governor Granholm. The only memorable result was someone from MDOT asking Liz Baker, the Chamber Director, if we were trying to get him fired.
We thought we scored a break through when the State agreed to give us big, bold fresh striping on M-21 at several intersections and at the Riverwalk crossing. Cool. At the next meeting, Shannon - who had a business in the Lowell Bank building at the time, stood up and reported that the striped cross walks were nice, but no one stopped for her.
The answer from MDOT shocked us, and further opened our eyes to the Catch-22 nature of crossing a state highway. He said, "Oh, no one on a state highway has to stop for anyone in a cross walk." REALLY? So what the ^&*( did you go to the expense of painting them so pretty and making such a big deal out of it?
We were not deterred and I believe this is when we came up with the aforementioned petition.
Our persistence ended up with a meeting at City Hall in which there were 5 people from MDOT who came from Lansing to tell us NO! At one point I raised my hand and said, "A lot of our frustration is because the State of Michigan tells us that in order to be a cool city we need to be pedestrian friendly. Now the same State of Michigan tells us we cannot have a lighted cross walk so pedestrians can cross the street."
The answer from one of the MDOT guys is burned in my memory. He actually said, "Being pedestrian friendly does not necessarily mean being able to cross the street."
As Penn & Teller are fond of declaring: I SHIT YOU NOT.
At that point I touched Liz Baker on the shoulder and told her I had to leave the meeting before I had a melt down and tossed furniture!
The reason I am relating all of this is so that you can appreciate how it meshes so well with our Police Chief explaining that IF we stop for a pedestrian and cause a collision, we might get a ticket for being considerate. Makes perfect MDOT sense to me.
So, what to do? Well, the hands of Lowell City Hall are tied - unless the gather the collective guts to just put signs out in the road telling people to "Stop For Pedestrians" like they do on a state highway in Charlevoix. That is NOT likely when our City Manager and PD Chief have gone out of their way to explain why we SHOULD NOT stop for pedestrians.
The only avenue I see to effect change would be for all of us to put some pressure on our elected officials. To that end I have created a Call To Action on Monday November 20th. I created a Facebook Event Page: LOWELL NEEDS A CROSS WALK CALL LANSING


I just sent this letter to the Ledger see the bold, large print part:

\Editor,

The issue of crossing Main Street has been a source of frustration for the 15 years we have had our store in Lowell and from what I understand, it was an old issue when we arrived.

The latest chapter has resulted in our Chief of Police and City Manager explaining that IF drivers do stop for pedestrians on Main Street (M-21 is a Michigan highway) and they are rear ended, then the person stopping could get a traffic citation. Fantastic - if you do the polite thing, you might get a ticket.

We have been asking MDot for a crosswalk with a light at the Riverwalk entrance for years. It is time to continue to ask - maybe even demand such safe passage for pedestrians. Since MDOT last looked at Lowell, we have seen huge growth in our downtown including, but not limited to, the opening of a brewery, a brew pub, and a new restaurant. We have a big, beautiful furniture store. Lowell Arts! has relocated to a fantastic new facility. My block is 100% occupied for the first time in decades and we added about 40 new paved parking spots to our public parking inventory. We have an Inn that is full so often, the owner is seeking to provide more rooms across the street. We have new shops for women and we have thriving antique shops, which is to say nothing of the businesses that have remained open for decades.

I am urging people to call the office of State Senator Hildenbrand on Monday November 20th. His number is 517-373-1801. Thank the Senator for all the great work he has done for Lowell lately. Inform him about all the wonderful growth and change in our downtown. Ask him to lean on MDOT for a lighted crosswalk at the Riverwalk so people can safely cross the street and enjoy everything Lowell has to offer. We do NOT need to wait until someone gets injured or worse. 

I would also like to encourage our City Manager, DPW chief, and police chief to join us in our effort to get a crosswalk. You have done a great job explaining the point of view of the State and the traffic law to us - now, how about explaining the point of view of Lowell business owners, residents, and visitors to our great town to the stubborn folks in Lansing? We have stood by our City leaders through some trying times, please reward our steadfastness with some support on this issue gentlemen.

If you want to cross Main Street safely, then let Lansing know about it.

11/21/17 - it occurs to me that we have three issues with traffic on Main Street (M-21) in Lowell. First, the volume of traffic, number of vehicles daily, dictate that we need a lighted crosswalk so people can make it across the street.
Secondly, we have a speed problem. Folks are NOT maintaining the posted 25 mph limit.
And finally, there is absolutely NO enforcement of the Michigan law regarding texting and driving. The other day, while walking to the Post Office, I clearly saw 6 drivers busy on their phone while they drove down Main Street. Why is this allowed? Who is responsible for enforcing that law on M-21? Lowell PD? County Mounties or Michigan State Police?