For thirty-four years, our office has looked out on the corner of Main and Huron. Over the years, we have seen some great stuff: Geoffrey Fieger news conferences; post-courtroom screaming matches; cops chasing robbers; demonstrations, marches and rallies; weddings; and even a presidential motorcade. We will never forget when someone said, “Look at that clown walking down the street,” and, sure enough, when we looked out the window, there was a clown walking down the street.
Since M-14 closed in March, we’ve also watched a daily parade of semitrucks. While the highway is rebuilt from Main St. to Miller Rd., traffic is supposed to detour along I-94 and US-23–but long-haul drivers are a resourceful lot. Some have been using the business routes through town to shortcut the ten-mile-plus freeway detour.
A parade of trucks has clogged the corner of Main and Huron ever since. Our receptionist estimates she sees more than 200 a day, creating a nightmare of a traffic jam from early morning well into the evening. The city has been forced to barricade the right-turn lane on N. Main to give drivers room to negotiate the ninety-degree turn. A battered light pole on the northwest corner bears witness to those who failed to swing wide enough.
Miller has also become a nightmare at rush hour, with traffic backed up all the way from downtown to M-14. Thankfully, the state police have curtailed the truckers’ other short cut–scenic Huron River Dr.
One can only wonder what will happen when Art Fair comes to town …
