The petition regarding Crahen Avenue and Michigan Street you submitted to Grand Rapids Township was forwarded to the Kent County Road Commission since we have jurisdiction over that intersection.
Although it seems logical that traffic control modifications would improve the safety of an intersection, it is not always the case. Research has found, in fact, that most crashes are caused by human error, not traffic control-related factors. If a modification to traffic control is made without proper cause, the change can serve to alter the type of crashes that occur and can potentially increase the number and severity of crashes. For this reason, the Federal Highway Administration has set specific warranting criteria that KCRC must follow when studying an intersection’s current traffic control and possible modification.
To modify traffic controls at a specific location including adding intersection flasher, all-way stops, and traffic signals, road agencies must follow the requirements set forth by the Federal Highway Administration. Analysis of traffic volume and crash history is used to determine if warrant criteria are met for modifications.
The Traffic Volume Warrants to install a traffic signal include a minimum amount of traffic on both roads. The most recent traffic counts at this intersection indicate that road volumes are less than what is required for the installation of traffic signal.
The Accident Warrants for a traffic signal require five (5) or more correctable accidents in a 12-month period. Correctable accidents include right-angle and left-turn accidents. From 2015– September 2021 there have four such crashes (less one per year). In your petition you referred to 15 crashes from 2015 – 2020, however when we review the traffic signal warrants we review each crash report to determine if the crash may have been prevented by a traffic signal. Of the 15 crashes you referenced only 4 could possibly have been “correctable”. The others are not considered correctable. Typically crashes like rear-end crashes increase with the installation of a traffic signal. The following table shows the type of crashes that are included in the 15 you mentioned.
Based on the warrant study conducted, neither volume levels nor crash numbers/patterns met warrant criteria for a traffic signal.’
Similar warrants have also been established for four-way stops. In addition to the warrants in order for a four-way stop to be installed traffic volumes on the two roads should be relatively equal. The traffic volume on Crahen Ave (about 8,200 vehicles per day) is about 8 times higher than Michigan St. (about 1,050 vehicles per day). If you have any other questions, please feel free to call me.
Hi all, I just wanted to reach out to let you know we’ve just passed 131 signatures on our petition! Thank you so much for your support! Here’s a link to share https://www.change.org/p/grand-rapids-twp-petition-for-a-traffic-light-crahen-ave-ne-michigan-st-ne