Just outside of Clague, on Nixon Road, the City of Ann Arbor installed new speed trackers this past fall. Every morning, the crossing guard for Logan Elementary and Clague Middle School, Saverah Azizuddif, is always outside protecting the kids from getting hit by speeding cars. And ever since the city put the speed trackers outside, the areas around Clague and Logan have had vehicles start to slow down. This has made the crossing guard’s job a lot easier because she does not have to be on high alert as much.
“I think that it’s a big plus,” Azizuddif said. “I feel like it’s making people slow down because now they’re paying attention to what the speed is.”
According to Executive Director of School Safety and District Operations Liz Margolis, trackers are common to be installed in areas around the city where there are concerns or complaints about potential speeding on the roads.
“This road has a lot of issues with complaints about speeding drivers especially during the drop off and pick up times at Clague,” Margolis said.
As reported by the Ann Arbor Moving Together, Nixon is a Medium level for traffic. This goal of Ann Arbor Moving Together is having a Vision Zero goal to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries resulting from traffic crashes by 2025. Speed is a major factor for determining how likely and how severe a traffic crash will be. Therefore, slowing vehicles down is an important strategy for helping Ann Arbor reach its Vision Zero goal.”
Praveena Ramaswami is a long time resident of the northside neighborhood that is next to Clague Middle School, Logan Elementary, and Thurston Elementary.
“I have seen many people struggle to cross Nixon Road, as vehicles many times do not stop even though it is city law to stop for pedestrians; it may be that those cars do not realize that it is a crosswalk,” Ramaswami said. “I would like to see a flashing crosswalk on Nixon Rd, similar to what we have on Plymouth Road.
These trackers help notify drivers when they are exceeding the speed limit.
“Clague and the district have been working with the city on options to slow traffic and restrict parking along Bluett, especially the south side in front of the school, so that students are not crossing traffic to get to or from cars in the morning and afternoon,” Margolis said.
The speed limit is 25 in school zones.
“There is a history of traffic along Bluett especially in front of the school,” Margolis said. “We also know that some cars increase their speed as they either come from Nixon Road or after the stop sign at Bunker Hill. But sometimes the speed of the vehicle can be deceiving and it is really not exceeding the speed limit. These signs help drivers so they are more aware of their speed.”
As an active community member, Ramaswami is involved in meetings and planning about the surrounding area.
“The road diet measures with the bump-outs that were added on Bluett Road, which was a partnership with AAPS and the city, were aimed to help slow traffic near the school and give students a safer waiting area to cross,” Ramaswami said. “This was addressed when the community alerted staff when there were many near misses on Bluett Road with students trying to cross the street with vehicles driving fast down the street.
According to Margolis, the city of Ann Arbor is planning some renovations to Nixon Road.
“Starting in 2025 that will include roundabouts along the road both at Bluett and Traver if the plan continues as proposed,” Margolis said.
Margolis reminds students that they should always cross Nixon Road at the crossing guard location near Traver— and to never cross at Bluett.
The city has begun a speed management program that may help understand the future direction of the city, as well as a traffic study on Nixon Road that was studied in 2017 and then put on hold in 2020 to add multiple roundabouts and improve pedestrian walkways. This renovation, however, is something that may restart in the near future.
For more information, people can visit a2gov.org. Additionally, we reached out for a comment from the City of Ann Arbor and did not receive a response.
