COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. \u2013 A roundabout in Commerce Township is prone to crashes, and it\u2019s about to have more traffic amid population growth.<\/p>\n
It continues to rack up crashes, but the Road Commission for Oakland County says the numbers tell only part of the story.<\/p>\n
The traffic circle, where M-5 transitions into Martin Parkway and Pontiac Trail, handles roughly 75,000 vehicles per day, making it one of the busiest intersections in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very challenging intersection,\u201d said Craig Bryson, senior communications manager for the Road Commission for Oakland County. \u201cYou have a state freeway, essentially, that dead ends at a county road. And there\u2019s about 75,000 cars per day at this intersection. Those two issues make this very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crash numbers climb, but fatalities remain at zero<\/p>\n
Data from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts shows crashes at the intersection have increased significantly over the years. In 2006, before the roundabout was built, there were 41 total crashes. By 2016, that number jumped to 146. The most recent data shows 151 crashes in 2024.<\/p>\n
Despite the increase in total crashes, both 2006 and 2016 recorded zero fatal crashes and seven injury-related crashes each.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no perfect intersection design that would eliminate all crashes at this intersection,\u201d Bryson said. \u201cIn fact, the signalized intersection that we replaced had a number of fatalities and serious injury crashes. And our goal was to reduce the number of those types of crashes at that intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryson said the trade-off was intentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made the conscious decision that a roundabout like this is likely to see a slight increase in fender bender crashes, non-injury crashes, in exchange for a significant reduction in serious injury crashes and fatalities and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve seen at this intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged the situation is far from perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not ideal, but we think it\u2019s the less evil of the options available to us for this kind of an intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Less evil\u2019 \u2014 but still a concern<\/p>\n
The roundabout consistently appears on lists of Oakland County\u2019s most dangerous intersections which is something Bryson says requires context.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose lists always identify the busiest intersections in Oakland County as well,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I mentioned, this carries 75,000 cars a day. That makes it one of the busiest intersections in Oakland County and certainly in this region of Oakland County.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Bryson says only a small fraction of crashes result in serious harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 0.5 percent of all the crashes here have serious injuries. So, we like that statistic. We\u2019d rather have no crashes, but we\u2019ll take that as a compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sideswipe problem: Lane discipline is key<\/p>\n
Data shows sideswipe crashes are among the most common at the roundabout. According to Bryson, the culprit is often driver behavior. Specifically, changing lanes inside the roundabout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we could get one message out, that would be, please try not to switch lanes in the roundabout,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where we see crashes. People don\u2019t see that there\u2019s a car to their rear and the next lane over they switch lanes and they hit it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His advice: choose a lane before entering and stay in it \u2014 even if it means going slightly out of the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better to make a wrong turn, go down the road, turn around and come back if you have to, than try to switch lanes in the roundabout, especially during peak travel times when the roundabout is congested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers who use the roundabout regularly say the learning curve is real. Lucas Allen, a driver who navigates the circle regularly, said the confusion is widespread.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s honestly, it is kind of hectic because a lot of people don\u2019t know how to use it,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n
Harry Campion, another driver, said familiarity eventually helps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m used to roundabouts, so it wasn\u2019t a big deal to me, but it made me very wary about other people getting used to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople seem pretty good nowadays,\u201d Campion added. \u201cIt took about a year, it takes people about a year to get used to in their own area and then they\u2019re fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ongoing adjustments since opening<\/p>\n
The Road Commission hasn\u2019t stood still since the roundabout opened. Bryson said engineers have been studying the intersection from day one and making changes along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe studied this from the minute it was open. We started studying what was going on there, how it worked and what we could improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
One notable change involved adding fabric barriers between lanes to restrict driver sight lines, a counterintuitive but effective approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the challenges we\u2019ve had is people coming into the roundabout too fast,\u201d Bryson said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve determined that part of the reason they were coming in too fast is because they could see too far ahead and they thought they would have a gap in the roundabout.<\/p>\n
They come flying up to the intersection and the other cars have gotten there more quickly than they thought and they didn\u2019t have the gap causing a crash.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we block their view, it almost forces them to slow down so they\u2019re less likely to get into a crash,\u201d he added. \u201cWe want them to go slowly through the roundabouts. And this roundabout, even when you\u2019re going slowly through it, moves traffic a lot more quickly and a lot more traffic than a signalized intersection.\u201d<\/p>\n
An urban designer\u2019s take: Not always the answer<\/p>\n
Roundabouts are often praised for reducing serious crashes and slowing traffic. But not everyone sees them as a universal solution.<\/p>\n
Edward Erfurt, chief technical advisor at Strong Towns, a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on making cities more financially resilient, told Local 4 the Commerce Township roundabout raises some design questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I look at that particular roundabout, this is a case that it appears it\u2019s been built larger than the volumes that are actually going on it,\u201d Erfurt said. \u201cIt also being a dual lane roundabout that can run an enormous amount of capacity through that roundabout but it also leads to more driver confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erfurt acknowledged the reduction in crash severity as meaningful progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that the severity of crashes has declined is a measure of success,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the fact the crashes continue to occur is still a concern at that particular intersection. And that is the time where we should look at what are the contributing factors to that and what are things that a community or county or say highway department could go out in very short order and start to adjust.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that even a built intersection isn\u2019t necessarily a finished one.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it is built, we shouldn\u2019t think that it\u2019s locked in amber,\u201d Erfurt said. \u201cThere\u2019s actually opportunities for us to go out and observe and identify areas that we could make adjustments to something like this type of investment that we can do quickly and cheaply \u2014 that would actually reduce crashes and increase safety at this particular location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growth adds pressure<\/p>\n
New development in the Commerce Township area is adding more drivers to an already congested roundabout, a trend that concerns both county officials and everyday drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraffic volume is one of the major challenges,\u201d Bryson said. \u201cAs that grows, the roundabout and all the roads and all the intersections will become more congested. That would be a problem regardless of the type of intersection we had there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Driver Kerry Chamberlain said the changes around the area are already being felt behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say it was probably better then than it is now because we\u2019re getting more and more \u2014 I mean, they\u2019re building up so much around here that there\u2019s this is the only way to go,\u201d Chamberlain said.<\/p>\n
Bryson said the county will continue to monitor the roundabout and adapt as conditions change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to monitor it and do whatever we can to improve it, but that is an inevitable reality of the growth we\u2019re seeing in this part of Oakland County.\u201d<\/p>\n
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