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Dearborn — One of Dearborn's most dangerous intersections has been reworked, and city officials say the changes should make the area safer for vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
In an effort to make the intersection where Schaefer Road meets Prospect Street, the city has constructed an island on Schaefer, and made Leonard Street and Prospect on the east side of Schaefer each one-way so traffic around a nearby mosque flows the same direction. Work on the intersection wrapped up around the beginning of July.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said the changes are intended to prevent left turns from Prospect onto Schaefer. Hammoud said the intersection has been the most dangerous in the city for left-turn crashes.
"The businesses at these corners in this area have changed over time, so the original design that might have happened decades ago is no longer sufficient with the way that traffic is coming in and out of this neighborhood," he said.
The intersection has changed along with the economic and cultural forces that have shaped Dearborn itself. Traffic has increased as the city's population has grown to more than 100,000, and the intersection is now home to the Masjid Al-Salam mosque, the Bint Jebail Cultural Center, and several businesses.
Until the construction of Ford's Rouge complex, which started in 1917, Maple Street ran as a main commercial thoroughfare to the Rouge River, following the boundaries of 18th-century ribbon farms.
But when the Rouge plant was built, Maple was cut off at the Ford property, said city archivist Mason Christensen. The Wayne County Road Commission extended Schaefer south of Michigan Avenue in the 1920s as a replacement for Maple.
"The end result today is a very awkward intersection between Maple following 18th century property lines and Schaefer that was designed to be a relatively straight auto thoroughfare," Christensen said in an email.
Officials said some residents expressed interest in the city putting a stoplight or roundabout at the intersection, but Tim Hawkins, the city's public works director, said it's not a good candidate for a roundabout because too many roads criss-cross. It also would have been difficult for a roundabout to accommodate large truck traffic, he said.
"With six intersections coming together, a roundabout would have been dangerous," Hawkins said.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dearborn finishes redesign work at problematic intersection
