3/19/14 - The Hamburg Township Board has sent off its latest request for the the Michigan Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on Merrill Road, along with the support of the county government. The road bisects Manley Bennett Park, which is the site of many youth sporting activities and can see thousands of young people and their families visit in a single day. Township officials feel the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit poses a threat to those who try to cross the street during these events, and they would like MDOT to reduce it. The township has submitted two formal requests for this reduction in the past, one in 1988 and the other in 1999. Earlier this month, a unanimous vote of the County Board of Commissioners gave its support to the reduced speed limit, and last night the formal request was approved by the township. Township Supervisor Pat Hohl says he is hopeful that MDOT will perform its study of Merrill Road during a youth sporting event so the need for the speed reduction will be understood. He says a similar situation occurred when the township requested a traffic signal at Merrill Road and M-36, which was denied three times before MDOT did a study during times of high use and subsequently approved the signal. Hohl says there is no way to know when the state will begin its study or give the township its decision. (TD)
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