Editor’s note: A word in Jones’ quote was updated for accurate spelling.
Public officials on the local and state level launched a barrage political of assaults and opinions this week following the change of the speed limit on a section of Grand River Avenue.
On Monday, the Michigan Department of Transportation raised the speed limit from 25 mph to 35 mph on West Grand River Avenue, starting near Frandor Shopping Center and continuing to Michigan Avenue. State officials said the speed limit was improperly posted, allowing the city of East Lansing to gain thousands of revenue dollars in speeding tickets.
More than 3,000 tickets were issued on the stretch between 2009 and the present alone, according to a press release from the East Lansing police .
A traffic control order from 2005 obtained by The State News shows the state police and the Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, ordered the speed limit to be raised to 35 mph based on a traffic study conducted in the area, although the speed limit never was changed by the city.
State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, who was mayor of East Lansing at the time the order was issued, said the city cut a deal with MDOT to raise the speed limits on some other roads issued in the order while keeping the speed limit at 25 mph on West Grand River Avenue because of concerns about pedestrian volume.
State Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, fired back at Meadows’ stance, saying the city “used their political influence” to get the speed limit improperly posted.
“I know that politically he has to support his city council,” Jones said. “I think that my colleague across the aisle knows better.”
Meadows and Jones railed each other’s positions following the change, when Jones introduced legislation to stop the under posting of speeds.
“Senator Jones’ claim that East Lansing conducted a speed trap in this location and wrote ‘thousands’ of tickets along its (three-quarter) mile long stretch is pure fantasy,” Meadows said in a press release Tuesday.
Bike and pedestrian traffic distinguish the road from other commutes, East Lansing Police Chief Juli Liebler said in a statement Wednesday.
“Scientific formulas that dictate safe speeds for travel are not necessarily one-size-fits-all,” she said.
Gary Megge, a state police traffic services officer, said the speed limit is reasonable at 35 mph.
“That road operates very safely, very efficiently at 35 miles per hour,” Megge said.
“If we just allow opinion and biases come into play, chances are we are not going to put a correct number on the sign for the driving environment.”
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