Dearborn Heights — Nearly four years after a 12-year-old boy was fatally struck by a car while riding his bike home after a football game, Dearborn Heights officials are installing 250 illuminated stop signs around the city to improve safety and prevent future tragedies.
Joey Smith died the night of October 14, 2022 near the intersection of Pardee Avenue and Annapolis — close to Pardee Elementary School — Street after he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike home from a football game at Annapolis High School.
On Mondaty afternoon, the city put up two of four signs that will stand at each corner of Pardee and Annapolis.
“The good news is this is a simple fix and a simple start,” said Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun at a news conference. “For (assuring) our residents that public safety is extremely important to us here at City Hall, and that the residents voices were heard.”
The signs are aimed at improving safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Baydoun said the city is installing the first signs around schools and parks, and has already received 50 stop signs.
The city plans to eventually add a pedestrian crossing signal on Beech Daly Road near Crestwood High School and speed bumps around parks and schools.
A crash report by the Transportation Improvement Association found four crashes occurred near the same Pardee and Annapolis intersection between 2019 and 2021. The city will eventually install a stop sign at all four corners of Pardee and Annapolis. The stop signs will be powered by solar panels.
Across the street from where city officials gathered Monday to mark the new stop signs stands a memorial to Joey. A bike painted white rests against the base of a tree, along with a picture of the boy, flowers, a stuffed animal and American flags.
Mary Ellen Baumgartner works as a crossing guard at Annapolis and Monroe Street by Pardee Elementary School, a job she’s had for 21 years. She said dangerous driving is a major problem in the area, including drivers who run stop signs and speed. Just last Thursday, she said she saw four people make illegal turns while she was working in the street.
But she’s happy about the plans to install illuminated stop signs around the city, and is optimistic they can be effective as a traffic-calming measure.
“The more they put in, the more people will obey them,” Baumgartner said.
Police Chief Michael Guzowski said unsafe driving is the No. 1 type of complaint he hears from residents. In addition to concerns about traffic safety around schools and parks, Dearborn Heights is criss-crossed by Michigan Avenue and Ford Road, major arteries of fast-moving traffic in Metro Detroit that have several lanes going each direction in some places.
“The police department and our officers do a great job where they can be, but we can’t be everywhere at once,” Guzowski said. “So it’s important to remind our kids who are on bikes, for parents who are driving and those who have new teenage drivers, that responsibility road safety is everyone’s.”
Dearborn Heights’ project to install 250 stop signs has gotten 80% of its funding from Michigan’s Safe Streets for All grant, and the other 20% from the city’s fund for local and major roads.
“This is the beginning. This is the start to safer streets across the city,” Baydoun said.
jcardi@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dearborn Heights installing 250 lit stop signs after boy’s death near elementary school
Reporting by Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
