By DEBRA HAIGHT
NILES – Two busy Southwestern Michigan highways will be seeing some changes in coming years as Michigan Department of Transportation officials work to replace the U.S. 12/M-51 interchange south of Niles.
The second of two open houses was held earlier this month to gather public input on what the interchange should look like in the future. MDOT wants to replace the U.S. 12 overpass bridges over M-51 which are in disrepair and deteriorated condition with a grade crossing.
As was the case with the first open house held last summer, residents had definite opinions about what they’d like to see done at that interchange and their preferred solution wasn’t what was being proposed by MDOT. Last summer, people spoke against putting a roundabout at that intersection. This month, people were against having Michigan turns.
MDOT Project Manager Kyle Rudlaff said last week that he and other MDOT representatives is now conducting follow ups to concerns expressed at the open house. A final decision on what the interchange will look like could be made as early as the end of February.
“The study team is conducting follow up on concerns expressed at the public open house,” he said. “Truck turning movements at 3rd street, sight distance on US-12, and the safety history of existing ‘Michigan Left Turn’ style intersections on US-12 are items being evaluated.”
“It will be determined how well these characteristics are expected to function at the new interchange and if there are ways to improve expected safety and traffic operations,” he added.
He noted that while there’s not another public meeting on the schedule, public comments will continue to be considered on the project.
As outlined at the open house earlier this month, MDOT wants to remove the overpass, put in a grade crossing with traffic lights and have “Michigan left turns” which requires motorists to go through the intersection a short distance and then make a left turn and a right turn. The project is scheduled to be done over nine months in 2023.
MDOT consultant Michael DeVries said the graded crossing with
Michigan left turns proposal would cost $8.7 million to create, while replacing the overpass would cost $15 million and making a graded crossing with direct left turns would cost $8.5 million. He said the Michigan left turns proposal is the safest proposal.
Area residents who drive trucks through that area were among those expressing skepticism about the graded crossing with Michigan left turns proposal. They said trucks would find it hard to navigate the Michigan left turns and could cause traffic back ups.
“I have a bunch of problems with this,” Kevin Varney of Niles said. “Coming from the east, you’re going around a blind curve and going down hill into the intersection … When tankers are coming north on South Third (parallel to M-51) and you make them turn right on 12 to turn left, traffic will be backing up into each other.”
Mike Snook of St. Joseph agreed. He noted that the MDOT proposal not only calls for Michigan left turns for the U.S. 12/M-51 intersection but also the U.S. 12/South Third intersection which is a short distance away.
“You have 600 to 1,000 trucks going through that intersection every day from Tank Town and you want us to make Michigan left turns,” he said. “You’re having two Michigan left turns within 200 feet of each other and over a creek.”
Scott Kane of Niles is another trucker who drives through that area. “I drive that route to work every day,” he said. “Basically you’re trying to do the impossible. Michigan left turns are going to back up, especially in bad weather. This is not the safest way to do it, I don’t care what the computers say.”
Rudlaff said MDOT is spending $4 million this year on repaving M-51 from the state line to Chestnut Street near the Niles Wal-Mart as well as pedestrian crossing improvements at Bertrand and Fulkerson Roads.
The 2023 project as currently envisioned will cost $25 million and 
include not only removing the U.S. 12 overpass bridges over M-51 and making a grade crossing but also reconstructing the U.S. 12 intersection at South Third Street to make it more pedestrian friendly and pavement repairs on M-51 north to the Niles city limits.
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