One of the busiest and most hazardous intersections in western Livingston County is hopefully on the way to becoming a little safer.
The three-way intersection of Fowlerville Road and Mason Road, just south of Fowlerville, will become a three-way stop effective Aug. 15. The busy intersection is home to the Countryway Party Store and ball fields, as well as Randy’s Service. The intersection is on the border of Handy and Iosco townships.
As it is now, the intersection only has a stop sign for traffic on Fowlerville Road; traffic traveling both east and west on Mason Road doesn’t have to stop, and cars routinely zip through the intersection at 65 mph or more.
According to the Livingston County Road Commission, there were 22 crashes at the intersection from 2013 to 2017. The Road Commission decided to install a three-way stop at the intersection after doing a thorough study. A July 12 memo to the Board of County Road Commissioners from traffic and safety engineering in nsw Mike Goryl said:
“Due to citizen requests, as well as our own annual review of intersection crashes, a traffic and safety study was completed for the intersection of Mason and Fowlerville Roads. This study included reviews of crashes, turning movements and operations at the intersection.
“There were a total of 22 crashes at the intersection during the 5-year period 2013 to 2017. Six (6) of the 22 crashes are classified as angle collisions, 4 as head-on left-turn, 9 as rear-end, 2 as run-thru, and 1 as left- turn. Angle and head-on left-turn crashes are typically the types of crashes considered correctable by traffic control alternatives such as a traffic signal, roundabout or all-way stop. Crash-related warrants for consideration of all-way stops and traffic signals both suggest that the intersection have 5 or more reported crashes in a 12-month period that are susceptible to correction by such measures. This intersection had 5 to 6 correctable crashes within the 11-month period 02/15/2014 through 01/15/2015. As a side note, the vehicles in both run-thru crashes ended up on the baseball field at the south end of the party store parking lot.”
