WAYNE, Mich. – A busy stretch of road in Wayne has raised concerns among multiple residents, who say drivers are speeding through it and causing crashes.
Wilbert Evans II reached out to Local 4 about speeders and crashes on Van Born between Merriman and Wayne roads.
“It’s 50 miles per hour through a residential area,” he said in a message sent to Local 4. “And people are going up to 65 to 70 miles per hour sometimes.”
Local 4 headed to the area and got answers on what can be done to change the speed limit.
“A lot of people are going way over 50; usually, it’s about 65. I’ve seen people going even up to 70,” said Evans.
At around 8:30 a.m. on a weekday morning, Local 4 went to see for ourselves. You can watch the full report at the top of this article.
Police said the stretch of Van Born is a border street between the cities of Romulus and Wayne. Police departments in both of those cities patrol and enforce violations there.
People living in the area said they’re worried about pedestrians crossing at night and about car crashes.
“There’s been a couple bad accidents with fatalities on Van Born, but people definitely speed, you can see the tire tracks of people when they’re speeding, they’re doing donuts and things,” said one resident.
“If I do see somebody speeding, it’s young folks in Hellcats and hot rods -- I see them out here doing their thing,” said another resident.
Evans said when he called Romulus officials about reducing the speed limit on Van Born, he was met with finger-pointing.
“I was told that it was not owned by Romulus. I called over to Wayne. They said that it wasn’t owned by Wayne, but this is actually a county issue. And if it was gonna be reduced, it would be done by the county,” said Evans.
Local 4 did some digging, and Evans is right. Wayne County oversees this stretch of Van Born.
When it comes to changing a speed limit, there is a process. First, Michigan State Police takes the lead and conducts a study. Then, both the state police and the county have to sign off. Right now, this issue is not on their radar.
Families who live in the area are just hoping drivers will slow down.