As a member of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners whose jurisdiction covers Hartland and Tyrone Townships, several citizens have approached me with their concerns about traffic safety along M-59 in Hartland Township. Specifically, they mentioned the high number of traffic accidents from Hartland Woods Drive to Old US 23. Located along this section of M-59 are an assisted living facility, a senior center, a public school, and a school administration building. While the Board of Commissioners does not have jurisdiction over state highways such as M-59, I conveyed to citizens that I would look into this issue.

I analyzed traffic crash statistics compiled by the Michigan State Police for the ten-year period ending in 2018. My analysis concluded that this portion of M-59 had more crashes than the second worst stretch of roadway in all of Livingston County. My entire ten-page analysis can be viewed by clicking here.

In May 2019 I conducted a town hall meeting to present my analysis to our local Traffic Safety Engineer from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), approximately 50 concerned citizens, and community leaders. Among the community leaders were Mike Murphy - Livingston County Sherriff, Bill Fountain – Hartland Township Supervisor, Kathie Horning – Hartland Township Treasurer, and James Wickman – Hartland Township Manager.

The meeting provided a more formal environment for citizens to reinforce their concerns about traffic safety along M-59. Many questions were fielded by the MDOT engineer and the Livingston County Sherriff. I would like to once again thank them for their participation in this event.

After our meeting, the MDOT engineer investigated the status of any planned improvement projects for M-59. Having been recently assigned to the Brighton MDOT office he was not immediately aware of any specific plans to help improve traffic flow and safety.

I am pleased to report that MDOT indicates they are planning the following traffic improvement along M-59 in Hartland:

• Traffic signals will be installed at the intersections of M-59 and Hacker Road, and M-59 and Clark Road. This work is planned for 2019.
• A left turn lane will be built on M-59 from Cullen Road to 950 feet east of Hartland Drive. The intent here is to reduce the number of rear-end accidents. This work is planned for 2020.
• The traffic signal at the Old Hartland High School will be modernized by in 2020.

It is encouraging that MDOT will be implementing several improvements in the near future. As a means of follow-up, I will post any new developments here on this website. If there are further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.