'For the sake of our children, slow down,' Lansing resident says after speed zones go up

Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal
·3 min read
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Traffic moves east down South M-43 near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.
Traffic moves east down South M-43 near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.

LANSING — Nancy Mahlow has a message for drivers who might be tempted to ignore the new school speed zone signs on two major east and west thoroughfares in north Lansing:

Back off on the accelerator and think about it for a moment.

"I would say to them, 'Do you have children? If you have children or your friends have children, wouldn't you want and expect drivers to slow down? Everybody is in a hurry. Slow down. Life is too short. For the sake of our children, slow down,'" she said.

The new signs went up in time for the new school year and mark established speed zones on Grand River Avenue and Saginaw Street in the vicinity of Eastern High School, Pattengill Biotechnical Magnet School and Lansing Catholic High School during times when kids are arriving at school or leaving for home.

Traffic moves east down Saginaw Street near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.
Traffic moves east down Saginaw Street near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.

The speed limit is now 25 mph on Grand River between Hayford Avenue and Marshall Street from 7:10 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. and from 2:35 p.m. and 3:05 p.m. The same is true for Saginaw Street between Mahlon Street and Fairview Avenue from 7:10 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 2:45 p.m. to 3:40 p.m.

The Michigan Department of Transportation agreed to create those zones at the request of the Eastside Neighborhood Organization, with support from the Lansing School District, MDOT spokesman Aaron Jenkins said.

Mahlow is president of the neighborhood group.

She said she's been lobbying for better safety measures around the schools near the Business I-69/M-43 thoroughfares for more than two decades. Saginaw Street runs eastbound, while Grand River Avenue runs westbound, becoming Oakland Avenue a little further west.

She believes MDOT granted the speed-zone request because the number of students grew after Eastern was moved from North Pennsylvania Avenue to Marshall and Saginaw streets in 2019 and Pattengill opened inside the former Fairview Elementary School, on the opposite side of Saginaw, the year before.

"It changed the traffic pattern considerably," she said. "And I really believe with the parents and the school and a superintendent who was really listening, it has made a huge difference. This time they took us seriously."

Traffic moves down Saginaw Street near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.
Traffic moves down Saginaw Street near Marshall Street in front of Lansing Eastern High School, Thursday morning, Aug. 31, 2023.

But Mahlow said the work's not done. Her biggest priority: Convince MDOT to put a conventional traffic light at Fairview and Saginaw streets, in place of the existing flashing signal. She said MDOT said it will to do that, but not until a major road project begins in another 18 months or so, she said.

"I'm not going to stop until it's done," she said. "My main concern is that I have to wait this year-and-a-half and hope nothing happens. I don't want to see a child or parent or anybody get hit."

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: School speed zones go up on Grand River, Saginaw in Lansing