To MDOT, the City of Kalamazoo, and the Township of Kalamazoo:

Protect our neighbors and neighborhood businesses; make W. Main safer now!

The current street design is a constant burden on neighbors and businesses in Douglas, Stuart, and W. Main Hill:

• A coffee shop's front windows obliterated by a veering car. 
• A nurse turned first-responder after numerous crashes in front of her home.
• A father afraid to cross the street to shop at Tiffany's.
• A couple that keeps bright high-vis vests in their entryway so they can provide assistance and direct traffic after frequent crashes.
• A homeowner who keeps a giant boulder in her curblawn to protect her home from speeding vehicles.
• A long-time neighborhood resident who calls the street "the river of death" as he sweeps broken glass and plastic from the sidewalk.

These are real testimonies about the effects of W. Main's current street design from neighbors of the Stuart, Douglas, and W. Main Hill neighborhoods.

It doesn't need to be this way.

The time is right for MDOT, the City of Kalamazoo, and the Township of Kalamazoo to work together to reconfigure W. Main St. (Solon/Kendall to Douglas) to 3 lanes, aligning with the Kalamazoo Ave. redesign slated for 2025.

The Kalamazoo Ave. design work is happening right now and already involves portions of W. Main, so the window of opportunity here is passing quickly!

A change in road configuration from 4 lanes to 3 lanes is a common, well-researched redesign that has already been happening throughout Kalamazoo and the nation. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 4-to-3 lane conversions:

• Can be implemented quickly and affordably
• Reduce speeds, crash frequency, and crash severity
• Improve traffic flow at signalized intersections
• Provide an opportunity for safer pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure like mid-block crossings or protected bicycle lanes

2022 traffic data from our own community shows just how unsafe W. Main is compared to a 3-lane configuration in Kalamazoo like Oakland Drive.

Comparing street segment characteristics:

• Oakland, from Howard to Parkview (1.1 miles in length) -- 2 travel lanes, 1 turn lane, 2 bicycle lanes -- 30 mph posted speed limit 
• W. Main, from Solon to Douglas (1.5 miles in length) -- 4 travel lanes, no turn lane, no bicycle lanes -- 35-40 mph posted speed limit

Vehicles using the street segment on a typical day: 

• Oakland: 17,714 vehicles
• W. Main: 19,418 vehicles (the most recently released traffic volume for W. Main is 17,188 vehicles, less traffic than Oakland saw in 2022)

Crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled (VMT)* on the street segment:

• Oakland: 534 crashes
• W. Main: 1,232 crashes (over 2x the crash rate of Oakland)

Crashes resulting in injury per 100 million VMT* on the street segment:

• Oakland: 56 crashes resulting in injury
• W. Main: 301 crashes resulting in injury (over 5x as many injury crashes as Oakland)

The data doesn't lie: a 3-lane configuration like Oakland Dr. efficiently handles similar traffic flow, results in fewer and less severe crashes, and provides better opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure at vital connectivity points (local small businesses, Kalamazoo College, etc.).

*Traffic engineers use "100 million vehicle-miles traveled" (VMT) calculations to standardize safety comparisons using the length of the road segment and the number of vehicles traveling on that segment. This can be interpreted as, "for every 100 million miles driven by vehicles on this segment, there were X crashes." The VMT calculation used can be found here.

Data sources:

1. Traffic data from the Michigan Department of Transportation
2. Crash data from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts

In summary:

• The businesses and residents living along W. Main deserve a safer street
• A road diet from 4 lanes to 3-lanes on W. Main is feasible, achievable, and timely given looming construction near Douglas in 2025
• Traffic data supports both improved safety and efficiency of a road diet

Sign this petition today to join your neighbors in demanding MDOT, the City of Kalamazoo, and the Township of Kalamazoo reconfigure W. Main to be safer for our community, not only for commuters, but for students trying to get to school safely, families wanting better neighborhood connectedness, and local businesses worrying about making ends meet.

Endorsements from Community Leaders:

• Vice Mayor Jeanne Hess, City of Kalamazoo (supporting letter linked here)
• Commissioner Jen Strebs, Kalamazoo County District 2
• Commissioner Tami Rey, Kalamazoo County District 1
• Commissioner Chris Praedel, City of Kalamazoo
• Commissioner Don Cooney, City of Kalamazoo
• Commissioner Alonzo Wilson, City of Kalamazoo
• Trustee Ashley Glass, Kalamazoo Township
• Craig Sherwood, Candidate for Kalamazoo Township Trustee (letter of support linked here)

Endorsements from Community Businesses and Organizations:

• Five Lakes Coffee (statement of support forthcoming)
• UncLee's Barber Shop (comments in support linked here)
• Nina's Cafe
• ModeShift Kalamazoo
• Strong Towns Advocates for Kalamazoo
• Open Roads (letter of support linked here)

Photo credit: MLive/AJ Evenboer