Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A roundabout project at a busy, crash-prone intersection will be taking place in Oceola Township starting next spring.

MDOT will be constructing a roundabout at the intersection of M-59 and Latson Road.

The Board of Trustees met Tuesday night and heard a presentation delivered by MDOT, followed by comments and questions from both the board and those in attendance – which was basically a full board room but not over capacity.

MDOT said safety concerns and crashes in the area are driving the project – refencing feasibility studies that showed increasing crashes. The majority were said to be rear-end collisions. Representatives asserted that roundabouts dramatically reduce the number of fatalities and major injury crashes.

The proposed design is a roundabout 180-feet in diameter, a multi-lane circulating area, dual entry approaches, a truck apron of 15-feet, and 400-feet splitter islands. A non-motorized pedestrian pathway and some sidewalk is proposed in plans, but would likely be adjusted before being finalized. It was stated in comparison, the roundabout would be larger than the new one at Silver Lake Road and US-23, but smaller than a new one over in Commerce Township.

The cost was pegged at $5.09 (m) million – with 80% being federal funding.

M-59 is a designated highway that falls under MODT jurisdiction, so the township has no local control over the project – although it does have some level of input in the planning process.

The two-hour presentation and back-and-forth with the audience was conducted in an orderly and respectful manner - with board members, residents, and other stakeholders expressing thoughtful insights and personal experiences surrounding concerns.

A “traffic nightmare” would be an appropriate way to summarize concerns.

For the timeline; survey work is completed, with planning work expected to be done in early fall of this year. Bid letting would be in December, with a contract being awarded and a spring 2027 construction start.

MDOT stated it will “definitely be a full construction season” – typically from April 15th through November 15th - with some prep work prior like tree removals etc. It stated it will try to avoid the Latson Road closure during the school year. MDOT expressed it would work with the local road commission and schools to coordinate the start date for less interruption.

Construction would be done under staged part-width construction.

MDOT said the work will be done in stages – the following is the language that was stated at the meeting. The first stage involves building the southern portion of the roundabout and approaches – which involves closing off the southern portion of M-59, and pushing traffic along existing M-59. In the second stage, a portion of southbound Latson Road would then be closed and constructed with detours. Once that’s built, MDOT said they’ll flip traffic to where all traffic would be on the southern portion of M-59 while they build the northern portion of the roundabout and approaches.

MDOT noted that most mainline traffic will carry on M-59 and it is local traffic they’re looking to detour. From the southside, MDOT said it’s looking at Golf Cub Road over to Eager Road up to M-59. For those wanting to go south, it would be Eager Road to Golf Club to Latson Road.

When traffic is on the new eastbound side of M-59, southbound Latson Road would be detoured via Bigelow to Eager, and northbound would be Eager to Bigelow up to Latson Road.

MDOT did state that sometimes they see a reduction in traffic volumes on posted detours as locals tend to avoid the area and find their own routes.

Board members and residents had serious concerns about the impact on Biglow Road and being able to handle the amount of detour traffic - saying “it will be a big problem”.

Regarding back-ups into the roundabout from people trying to turn left onto Bigelow Road, MDOT stated it has incorporated a revised design based on feedback for the northern approach to have a little bit of “storage area” for a vehicle looking to run left onto Bigelow Road. It would not be a separate center turn lane, as that could be confusing for motorists and lead to more safety concerns. Residents expressed that “storage area” could accommodate a bus or two vehicles and will “not be enough”.

Concerns were raised with proposed detour routes but also traffic on surrounding area roads that are already extremely congested and also see crashes. Bigelow, Hughes, Brophy, Gully, Eager, Argentine, and others were among some mentioned. Also stressed were the number of school buses, semi-trucks, gravel haulers, other buses that transport workers from the Flint area, and general traffic from outside the area that all contribute to major issues already occurring.

Pedestrian safety was another serious concern emphasized with all of the subdivisions, schools, and Oceola Community Center in the area and people trying to cross the busy roadways.

Supervisor Sean Dunleavy noted there are people who cross Latson Road frequently. Planning Commissioner Paul Kopjoe voiced concerns about speed and the township wanting to become more pedestrian friendly – again referencing a lot of housing, the school, and community center and general busy area.

Further, both Oceola and Hartland Township officials have long been pressing MDOT to continue the boulevard concept and widen M-59 to alleviate traffic issues – but it was relayed there is no funding for that.

MDOT officials took note of concerns and input, and stated more information will be made available to the public as the project progresses - which would also be communicated by the township.

A public open house will be forthcoming, likely sometime in the summer.