The city of Saginaw and the Michigan Department of Transportation are teaming up to improve traffic safety and plan for long-term infrastructure upgrades. On Wednesday, officials co-hosted a joint open house to engage residents in shaping two major transportation initiatives: Safe Streets for Saginaw Safety Action Plan and MDOT's M-13/M-81 Corridor Study.
Safe Streets for Saginaw is a federally funded safety initiative that uses crash data and community feedback to identify high-risk intersections and propose future upgrades. Between 2014 and 2023, Saginaw saw just under 13,000 crashes, including 29 fatalities and 192 serious injuries, according to project consultant Lauren Warren.
“The main goal of the safety action plan is for us to identify crash hotspots, particularly those that cause fatal or serious injury crashes,” Warren said.
Held at the SVRC Marketplace, the open house featured informational displays, feedback stations, and short presentations from project leaders. City Engineer Ronald Rangel said the event aimed to both inform the public and gather local insight.
“One important portion of this project is their education,” Rangel said. “To share with the community, with the citizens a lot of information to be better users of the... transportation network. The other key is we try to receive a lot of feedback from our community.”
Preliminary data shows that 65% of crashes in the city happen at intersections. Twenty-three percent involved alcohol or drug use, and another 23% occurred at night. Around 50% of crashes involved young drivers under 24 or older drivers over 65. There were also 649 documented distracted driving crashes. The city recorded 262 crashes involving pedestrians or bicyclists, with 14 pedestrian deaths during that time period.
On the corridor side, Barb Arens of Cincar Consulting Group said the M-13/M-81 Corridor Study is looking 20 years ahead.
“We’re evaluating alternatives for the corridor that address operations and safety and the needs of the community going forward,” Arens said.
The team is currently analyzing crash patterns and traffic volumes along the corridor and expects to return in the fall to present options.
MDOT representative Steve Katenhus said that public feedback is essential to guide future improvements.
“We really need to get the feedback from the people who use it every day,” he said. “They know their community more so than what we do, so it’s important to get that feedback...so that if there’s something that we can do to help improve the safety, we’re going to make every effort to do so.”
Several residents shared their concerns during the open house. Monique Lamar-Sylvia said officials need to be proactive in understanding the specific safety issues people face in their neighborhoods.
“Speed limits, actually check those,” she said. “Those condensed areas where there are problems…get out and talk to the community and see what those citizens...what do they want?”
Other residents highlighted safety concerns for pedestrians in the city’s core. Carly Hammond, an at-large member of the Saginaw City Council, said drivers are often inattentive to foot traffic.
“Through downtown especially and in the city of Saginaw, people are used to being able to go at high speeds,” Hammond said. “They’re not looking for pedestrian traffic because there’s not a lot of people who are walking around. However, there are people who have to walk around. We have the Temple Theatre, so you’ll see little groups of girls in cute little tutus clinging together for dear life because they’re facing down four semis coming from both directions going 50 miles an hour.”
Officials encouraged residents to continue providing feedback through online surveys and interactive maps. So far, over 80 people have submitted comments, with speeding, sidewalks and crosswalks among the top issues. Rangel said the city is still collecting data before finalizing its safety action plan.
“I think the big thing is try to integrate the citizens. Work all together… it’s not just the engineering part,” Rangel added. “We have to work together to create a safer road.”
The online survey remains open until June 20.
