Traffic safety in Canton has always been a primary community concern. Annually Canton will experience a higher loss of life, injury and property damage as a result of traffic crashes than it will from crime. Canton has always taken a proactive approach with traffic issues through public education and through the use of its Special Enforcement Unit to reduce the number of accidents occurring in the community. The department recently started a proactive safety enforcement program designed to reduce the number of accidents occurring at high traffic crash locations. To accomplish this, accident data is evaluated to determine locations, days, times and causes of crashes. Patrol officers are then assigned to work the high crash intersections ensuring compliance with traffic laws, placing emphasis on violations determined to be a frequent cause of accidents at the location. The objective, through enforcement efforts, is to make the intersections safer for traffic.

The top three intersections with the highest number of crashes are: 1) Ford & Haggerty, 2) Ford and Canton Center, 3) Ford and Lilley. As the community continues to grow and more visitors are drawn to Canton, awareness and concern over Ford Road has been mounting. To address the increased concern, Canton Public Safety Director John Santomauro met with Michigan Department of Transportation, Wayne County Road Commission and Canton government officials to look at intersections in Canton from an engineering standpoint and discussed what can reasonably be done to improve traffic safety. The overall goal of the group is to coordinate agencies, evaluate intersections, improve intersections and enforce driver compliance for overall safety. The new traffic signal system on Ford Road is an example of the type of improvements the group will be looking for. The new system allows signals to communicate with each other in a coordinated effort to move traffic as efficiently as possible along Ford Road.

By studying the roads from an engineering standpoint, officials may find additional ways to move vehicles safely through Canton's roadways. In the meantime, Director Santomauro states, "Although traffic control or road enhancements may be required to improve the intersection, the police department doesn't have the luxury of not taking some action to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians in the area."

MEDIA CONTACT: Director John Santomauro, 734/394-5445