This commitment began with Maureen Schiffman driving down 11 Mile Road to go to Walmart. The first road she came to enter the parking lot was a left turn but she noticed on her right a no left turn sign so she was forced to drive past the store and behind the store, making a U-turn, coming back up to Walmart and turning right to get into the parking lot. This seemed so inconvenient that it moved her to go before the Novi City Council, who agreed with her and had the sign removed promptly.

One down, four to go.

The next problem arose when she was driving in the Walmart parking lot on the road which is perpendicular to the parking spaces and she had the right of way. Unfortunately, a car had left the parking space, and was coming towards her without stopping as her car was passing. They both screeched to a stop, barely missing each other and causing an accident. Maureen had talked to other store owners who mentioned that this very same situation caused frequent accidents in the parking lot, so Maureen decided to go to the supervisor in charge of the Walmart parking lot and she explained what the situation was. He got out his detailed survey and agreed with Maureen that stop signs were needed at every lane that had the parking spots. He said that she should give him two weeks to work on this and at the end of the two weeks as she was making a trip to Walmart. She noticed 14 stop signs placed at every lane of parking spaces that met with the main road in the parking.

Two down, three to go.

The next situation took place on 11 Mile Road between Taft and Novi Road. As Maureen travel down the road, she followed the street sign that said 25 mph. On her return ride she noticed at the same area that the street sign read 30 mph. She was confused how could it be 25 mph on one side of the street and 30 mph on the other side of the street. So she called the city of Novi and within a few days had both signs reading 30 mph. Confusion, gone.

Three down, two to go.

Traveling off of Novi Road entering old Novi Road, the street sign says 30 mph and then approximately a block down says 25 mph, which makes sense because there are lots of homes there yet on her return trip following old Novi Road headed towards Novi Road. She was in a quandary as to what the speed limit would be because there was no street sign there. Again she called the City of Novi and within a few days she noticed a 30 mph street sign erected on old Novi Road.

Four down, one to go.

Going south on Novi Road and turning right onto Grand River. you notice the speed limit sign as 40 mph. Then you go over a bridge and at the bottom of the bridge it changes to 50 mph. No problem until Novi built a new road giving drivers a new way to get to Grand River from Novi Road. This street is called Crescent Road. This road has a 30 mph street sign on it. Now as you turn right at the light on Grand River there’s a bit of a question as to what the speed limit is since the driver didn’t stop at the intersection of Novi Road and Grand River, where the 40 mph street sign is located. All they know is that at the bottom of the bridge it’s going to read 50 mph. So they decide to go 50 mph at the light. Now Maureen knows it’s only 40 mph and she gets aggravated when people drive behind her and start tailgating to make her go faster and then speed around her on the right and go 50. After having enough of this she calls the city and explains the problem and right away a 40 mph street sign goes up near the light at Crescent and grand River. Problem ended.

Maureen wants you to know that you too can keep Novi safe on the roads. If you notice a problem, call the City of Novi, they are very responsive and want all of us to be safe when we drive.

Written by Maureen Schiffman. Novi resident since 1984 and loves her city. Maureen is a young 73 year old who says that you can never be too old to make a difference.