NEWSPAPERS n o i t i d E l a i c e p S
AUGUST 7, 2024
candgnews.com
Oakland County papers
Road Commission, LTU launch new road safety tech BY KATHRYN PENTIUK
kpentiuk@candgnews.com
OAKLAND COUNTY — On July 16, the city of Southfield sponsored a public demonstration of the latest road safety technology being piloted in Southfield and Oakland County, conducted by P3Mobility and the Road Commission for Oakland County at Lawrence Technological University. The public open house showcased a simulation of the technology, which will be installed at five intersections throughout Oakland County and in 10 vehicles to be studied for a year. The intersections include: • Church Street and 10 Mile Road in Oak Park. • 12 Mile Road at Northwood Elementary School in Royal Oak. • Greenfield at 10 Mile in Southfield. • 12 Mile and Main St. in Royal Oak. • Greenfield and Lincoln in Southfield. “This is what we call connected vehicle technology,” Craig Bryson, the senior communications manager for the Road Commission, said. “So, the long-term goal is that cars will be equipped with this, the infrastructure will be equipped with this so that all of this stuff is talking to each other. The cars and the infrastructure are all talking to each other. There are sensors that detect pedestrians so that when you’re driving down the street, if there’s a car about to pull out in front of you, for example, but it’s not within your line of sight — say, it’s behind a building, but it’s ac-
Attendees of the open house try out a demonstration of the new road technology simulator at Lawrence Technological University. Photo by Erin Sanchez
See SAFETY on page 4A
Parking rates increase, new system to be implemented in Ferndale BY MIKE KOURY mkoury@candgnews.com
Photo by Mike Koury
Ferndale recently increased its rates for parking, and motorists also will see a change after Labor Day involving how they pay for parking. The new system will use license plates instead of a numbered-space system.
FERNDALE — New parking rates have been implemented in the city of Ferndale as of July 1. The new parking rates are $1.60 per hour for on-street parking spaces, $1.35 for surface lots and $1.25 for The dot parking structure. Previously, the parking rates were $1.50 per hour for on-street parking spaces, $1.25 for surface lots and $1.15 for The dot. Parking will remain free on Sundays and 14 holidays throughout the year. City Manager Joe Gacioch said there are three drivers for the rate increase, the
city’s first since 2021. The first driver, he said, was the cost of business and keeping up with the increase in the unit costs for the system. The second driver was to improve customer service and streamline the system, and the third is the “annual debt service requirements for the term of the repayment period, and that’s about $1.1 million per year.” “You project your costs. Through the budget process, we look at our cost structures,” Gacioch stated. “For example, concrete, the cost of concrete, which we use for resurfacing, that’s increased by about 50% since 2021. As we understand, we have a capital plan. We project out our See PARKING on page 7A