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Orchard Lake-14 Mile roundabout
opens; barrels gone by mid-November.
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
T
he months of traffic jams,
detours and frustrating delays
caused by the construction
of the new roundabout at 14 Mile and
Orchard Lake Road are almost at an
end, according to Road Commission
for Oakland County (RCOC) personnel
and other public officials who partici-
pated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on
Monday, Sept 21, to commemorate the
final stages of the 14 Mile/Orchard Lake/
Northwestern Highway project.
Construction began in mid-2014 with
the realignment of 14 Mile Road east of
Northwestern Highway; this year, the
entire "triangle" area was reconfigured,
including the creation of a multi-lane
roundabout. While the roundabout is
expected to reduce traffic delays and
allow safer and smoother travel, the
yearlong construction and resultant lane
closures have inconvenienced drivers,
nearby residents and retailers.
Scrubbers Dog Wash and Professional
Grooming, located in a small retail
strip on Northwestern Highway east of
Orchard Lake Road, is one of the busi-
nesses where access has been significant-
ly hampered by the construction.
"We get calls on a daily basis from
customers asking, 'Where are you?' and
`How do we get in there?"' said Nikki
Budaj, who owns the business with her
husband, Jim Chatfield. While the com-
pany is known from its original Royal
Oak location, Budaj believes the con-
struction has made it harder to attract
new customers, especially in the self-
serve aspect of the business, a relatively
new concept in the West Bloomfield-
Farmington Hills area. She looks forward
to serving more four-legged customers
and their owners once all the barrels are
cleared from the area, which officials say
is expected to happen by mid-November.
"I'm excited:' said Oakland County
Commissioner Marcia Gershenson. "It's
been a long time coming, and ifs great
that the two communities (Farmington
Hills and West Bloomfield Township)
have been able to come together to better
navigate this highly populated corner:'
Those who live or drive in the 14 Mile-
Orchard Lake area have mixed reactions
to the effects of the construction. Some
people stopped going to retail businesses
where accessibility was limited, while
others found detours and shortcuts that
enabled them to continue patronizing
their favorite stores and restaurants.
Here are a few comments in response
to a Facebook query about the construc-
tion hassles.
"I avoided that whole area," said Roz
Keith, who lives in Farmington. "If I got
off 696 at 12 Mile and Orchard Lake, I
would go east at 13 Mile or come north
on Farmington Road and take Maple
across to Orchard Lake. I basically didrit
shop at any of the stores in the TJ Maxx
or Whole Foods centers for months:'
Michael Steinberg, who lives north of
14 Mile and east of Northwestern, said
he and his neighbors have had to endure
daily backups of up to three-quarters of
a mile, with the added inconvenience of
traversing pylons and dirt roads to reach
southbound Northwestern and Orchard
Lake Road.
"I live at 14 and Farmington and
never really went out of my way to avoid
anything; said Linda Blumstein of West
Bloomfield. "I learned the ins and outs,
and cut through the malls. I'll be glad
when it's open. But I personally like the
roundabouts. They keep traffic moving,
especially if people read the signs, stay
in their lanes and yield to traffic in the
circle:'
According to RCOC Chairman Ron
Fowkes, roundabouts have been found to
reduce traffic fatalities by 90 percent and
serious injuries from auto accidents by
76 percent.
"The construction didn't bother me at
all," said West Bloomfield Trustee Diane
Rosenfeld Swimmer. "I know this will
take some getting used to for some —
in the end it will be fantastic!"
❑