Canton Township will replace the four-way stop at Sheldon and Palmer roads with a roundabout in 2027. A second roundabout is planned for 2029 at the intersection of Ridge, Saltz and Denton roads.

The projects are part of the township's Five-Year Road Program, which lists the Sheldon/Palmer roundabout at a $350,000 township cost paired with a $2.6 million grant from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). The Ridge/Saltz/Denton roundabout carries a $2 million estimate, with $1.6 million in additional Community Roads Program funding.

Canton's road millage, a 1.45-mill, 20-year levy voters approved in August 2018, generates about $5.6 million a year for road work.

WXYZ 7 News Detroit reported the roundabout plans on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak told the station that driver behavior at the Sheldon/Palmer stop prompted the change.

"I have seen people blow through that intersection because they don't know what to do, or just to try to beat the car next to them," Graham-Hudak said.

Engineering Services Manager Charles Larocque told WXYZ the township did not start with a roundabout in mind. "We did do the homework," he said. Larocque said roundabouts eliminate head-on collisions, T-bone collisions and left-turn conflicts. SEMCOG data shows replacing a signalized intersection with a roundabout cuts fatal and injury crashes by 78 percent. Sheldon and Palmer is currently a four-way stop, not a signalized intersection.

Resident Alison Hutton told WXYZ the rush-hour backups stretch well beyond the intersection. "It goes so far back, it winds up to Michigan (Avenue)," Hutton said. Janesse Whitlock, another neighbor, said she supports the plan but worries it will take drivers time to adjust.

The township's road program document still describes the Palmer/Sheldon intersection, in an older section on intersection recommendations, as "likely warranted for a signal." Elsewhere in the same document, the project tables list it as a confirmed 2027 roundabout instead. Ridge/Saltz/Denton appears in that same recommendations section only as an intersection that "may be considered" for improvement, while the project tables confirm it as a 2029 roundabout.

Canton's Engineering Services Division, Wayne County's Department of Public Service and the engineering firm Mannik and Smith Group hosted a public open house on Aug. 13 at Summit on the Park. Staff displayed a to-scale model of the Sheldon/Palmer roundabout design.

Residents with questions about the roundabout projects can contact Canton Township Engineering Services at 734-394-5150.