Bloomfield Township police have written more than 140 tickets in less than a week for drivers making illegal left turns near the Hickory Grove subdivision, part of a stepped-up enforcement push along a stretch of road residents say has turned into a dangerous shortcut. The no-left-turn restrictions target eastbound Hickory Grove Road at three intersections during the morning and evening rush, and officers say they have no plans to ease up.
According to WXYZ Channel 7, the no-left-turn restrictions apply to eastbound Hickory Grove Road at Rambling Way, Courville Drive and Aspen Lane during morning and evening rush hours. The signs marking those turns as off-limits went up over the summer, but residents say drivers have largely ignored them ever since, treating the subdivision streets as a pass-through rather than a destination.
Neighbors Say the Problem Predates the Signs
Residents along Rambling Way told the station they had watched drivers illegally turn left into the subdivision for months before the signage even appeared. Susan Calhoun, one of those residents, said drivers simply are not paying attention to the signs now that they're up. Michelle Gikas, another neighbor, said the situation worsened once I-696 closed, pushing drivers to cut through the neighborhood as an alternate route from Telegraph Road to I-75.
With no sidewalks in the area, that extra traffic has become a genuine safety concern, the station's report notes. Gikas pointed specifically to children's safety and to bus stops where kids are forced to stand in the street while waiting, a detail that underscores why police and residents alike have pushed for stricter enforcement rather than just signage.
Police Say They Started With Warnings
Bloomfield Township police officer Sean Manor said the department actually eased into the crackdown, conducting enforcement when the signs were first installed but issuing mostly warnings at that stage. Manor said residents fear being hit by a car as traffic keeps increasing, and he was blunt about where responsibility lies: drivers are ultimately on the hook for obeying road laws and posted signs, he said, even when GPS apps try to route them otherwise.
Eric Griffin, who lives nearby, said he has noticed some improvement but that plenty of drivers still are not getting the hint. Each ticket issued now carries a $125 fine and adds two points to the driver's record, a penalty structure meant to make the message harder to ignore than a sign alone. Under Michigan law, any points tied to a citation are addressed when the driver appears in court, and the Michigan Secretary of State cannot set aside a court conviction or the points that come with it.
I-696 Detours Keep Feeding the Shortcut
The timing lines up with a construction detour that has rerouted traffic across the region. As of late April, eastbound I-696 remained closed and detoured from M-10 to I-75 through late 2026, according to a Michigan Department of Transportation announcement. That closure, part of the ongoing Restore the Reuther project, had already shifted westbound traffic onto the rebuilt eastbound side near the I-75 interchange as of February, per an earlier MDOT release.
Bloomfield Township police say enforcement near Hickory Grove will continue, leaving drivers who treat the subdivision as a detour workaround to face the same choice residents have been pressing for all along: follow the signs, or keep paying for it.
