No wrecks since sign change at I-75 ramp

BY SHERI McWHIRTER
smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

Tue, May 13 2008

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GRAYLING -- It's been more than a year since signs changed on Interstate 75 at the Four Mile Road exit ramp and there hasn't been a single wreck since at the once-deadly spot.

Two fatal accidents occurred within a year at the end of the off-ramp in what officials say was a misreading of road signs. The confusion came from two signs on the same structure at the exit: one to show how I-75 and U.S. Highway 127 split several miles south of Grayling and the other immediately pointing to the Four Mile Road exit.

Many motorists would pull of the freeway and expect it to be the start of U.S. 127, said Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield.

Then not everyone was able to realize the mistake and slow down in time for the stop sign, he said.

"There'd been several wrecks and three people died there," Wakefield said.

The last bad crash came in August 2006 and killed an elderly couple from Houghton Lake, Byron Thomas, 73, and Goldie Thomas, 78. Another accident in November 2005 killed Ralph Greenisen, 82, of Ohio.

There also were recurring rear-end collisions on the off-ramp and the stop sign repeatedly was knocked down, Wakefield said.

Plus, motorists frequently pulled off the freeway and then crossed over Four Mile Road to re-enter the freeway.

Kathleen Smith of Grayling occasionally saw drivers do just that as she was coming and going from her home on Four Mile Road.

"People got confused," she said, but she hasn't seen it happen since the signs changed.

State officials agreed to rearrange the signs, moving the one that indicated the upcoming highway split up to the next overpass bridge. The Four Mile Road exit sign was left alone.

"We haven't had one accident there since they changed the sign," Wakefield said.

Officials changed the signs to alleviate problems and it's encouraging that no wrecks happened there since then, said Bob Felt, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

"Anything we can do to enhance safety on our roadways, we will do," he said.

MDOT officials will continue to monitor that off-ramp to determine if any more can be done to improve safety there, Felt said.