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280 Traffic Survey Results
Overall, voters felt traffic on the 280 corridor had been improved by ALDOT’s changes. In the top graph, which shows what voters thought of traffic before the Intersection Improvement Plan, two-thirds gave rush hour traffic a 1 out of 5. Following the changes, displayed in the second graph, those surveyed felt on average that rush hour traffic was now a 3 out of 5.
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280 Traffic Survey Map
Last month, residents of the U.S. 280 corridor participated in a survey about changes to their lifeline.
After being asked their opinions about nine high-profile intersections between The Summit and Hugh Daniel Drive, voters labeled they were dissatisfied with ALDOT’s changes to only one — Valleydale Road.
1: Cahaba Ridge Road / Dolly Ridge Road. 78% satisfied
2: Grandview Parkway and Perimeter Park South. 77% satisfied
3: Cahaba Park Circle and Key Drive. 59% satisfied
4: Resource Center Drive. 65% satisfied
5: Inverness Parkway and Inverness Center Drive. 66% satisfied
6: Valleydale Road. 46% satisfied
7: Brook Highland Parkway / Meadow Brook Drive. 72% satisfied
8: Corporate Parkway. 71% satisfied
9: Hugh Daniel Drive. 74% satisfied
The new Michigan Left U-turn system earned comments like these from readers:
- “The U-turn light takes forever, and everyone has to try and turn in Kohl’s parking lot to get onto Valleydale. This is by far the worst move that was made.”
- “Whose lame-brained idea was it? They created additional lights and additional confusion by not allowing the turn onto such a busy road as Valleydale. Traffic piles up in the turn around. Yesterday someone stopped in the middle of the road trying to get into the U-turn lane and I nearly hit him/her. Stopped in the middle of the road! Certainly the driver was wacky, but the concept was what created the situation.”
- “This is ridiculous and more dangerous. I can’t stand it. I agree with everything your readers said. ALDOT only wants to move traffic, and to heck with the people that live down here.”
- “I believe the U-turn helps traffic in the long run; people just need time (and willingness) to get used to it.”
- “This is by far the worst change I’ve ever seen. I don’t see the improvement. Headed into town from Chelsea, traffic still slows to a crawl around Brook Highland and through the new Valleydale change. In addition, more people are trying to dart across traffic in front of Pier One in order to avoid the U-turn, which is very dangerous. The U-turn itself is a joke with two lanes all needing to merge into one in order to turn right onto Valleydale in a short amount of space.”
- “Home Depot and Longhorn have seen severe decreases in business. This affects a lot of families’ ability to provide.”
