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This shows an example of an upgraded mid-block crossing with a Rectangular Red Flashing Beacon, or RRFB, located on 19 Mile Road and Flis Drive that connects subdivisions and a nature park in Sterling Heights.
Photo provided by the City of Sterling Heights
STERLING HEIGHTS — A federal grant of more than half a million dollars is paving the way for safety improvements along Saal Road.
City officials this month celebrated an award of $634,560 from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ Transportation Alternatives Program that will help pay for a project aimed at protecting pedestrians, bicyclists and other forms of nonmotorized movement. Project features include upgraded ladder-style crosswalks, curb extensions, signage, pavement markings, and a pedestrian refuge island.
“Keeping Sterling Heights safe, especially on the roads our residents use every day, is one of our most important responsibilities,” Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor said in a news release. “We’re grateful to SEMCOG for this TAP grant that will allow us to improve sidewalk deficiencies on Saal Road and Stadler Drive that were identified in the City’s Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. These improvements will strengthen connections, increase safety and accessibility and encourage more residents to choose active transportation, whether they’re walking, biking, or rolling.”
At a March 3 City Council meeting, Sterling Heights City Engineer Brent Bashaw said the project is slated for summer 2027 and the city’s local funding match is 20%. He said the project is tied to the comprehensive transportation safety action plan city officials approved last year as well as its “Vision Zero” goal of no fatal or serious-injury accidents by 2050.
“Two of 10 fatal or serious accidents in the city involve a pedestrian or a cyclist,” Bashaw said. “So, although the pedestrian and cyclist accidents account for less than 1% of the total accidents in the city, they represent 20% of the serious or fatal accidents. So to accomplish our Vision 2050 goals, we have to make the roadways safer for nonmotorized roadway users.”
Safety for schoolchildren
A significant part of the Saal Road corridor project includes safety improvements near Graebner Elementary School, which is on the west side of Saal between Cornell Drive and Hope Drive.
“We’ll be relocating the pedestrian crossing away from the drive approaches, removing the extra lane across the school frontage to shorten the distance of pedestrian crossings, and we’ll be providing upgraded advanced warning signage, pavement striping, push-button RRFPs (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons), and a raised crosswalk,” Bashaw said. “These improvements, notably the raised crosswalk, will also help slow traffic in the area.”
In a prepared statement, John Graham, assistant superintendent of auxiliary services for Utica Community Schools, said the district appreciates its “long-standing partnership with the City of Sterling Heights to keep our community safe.”
“The pedestrian crosswalk comes at a time when we are opening a completely reconstructed Graebner Elementary,” Graham said. “This transformation will create a safer learning environment that enhances student success and achievement. The crosswalk is another important layer of safety and will add peace of mind to the families and students who cross Saal each morning and afternoon.”
Finding funding
Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool noted how the city uses federal grant money to leverage additional funding to execute projects like the one coming for the Saal Road corridor.
SEMCOG’s TAP is a competitive program that distributes approximately $10 million in federal funding to local transportation projects each year. Eligible projects include shared-use path and sidewalk modernization, pedestrian safety improvements, new sidewalks and complete streets amenities that increase usability.
“TAP is an important and popular funding program that SEMCOG uses to help improve safety and make community connections,” said SEMCOG Executive Director Amy O’Leary. “Sterling Heights identified several enhancements to improve walking access along the Saal Road corridor and SEMCOG’s Regional Review Committee was eager to support them.”
O’Leary said Sterling Heights is “always at the forefront of some really good planning work” and that the committee that reviews proposals was impressed with the city’s vision for Saal.
“That committee is all elected officials,” she said at the March 3 City Council meeting. “One of the reasons that they really liked this project is the emphasis that you have on safety for your schoolchildren as a priority.”
