Before the two sides of Dayton St. can be connected next year so as to allow only first-responders to travel from the village to the township during the M-24 construction project, Oxford Village officials want to have a plan in place that covers all the issues surrounding it.

That’s why last week, council voted 5-0 to form a committee consisting of Police Chief Mike Solwold, Fire Chief Pete Scholz and village Manager Joseph Madore. This committee is charged with developing a plan that includes signage, enforcement options and potential ways to help ensure only emergency vehicles use the access point. The plan is to be reviewed by council “no later than Dec. 31, 2019” and it must be in place prior to Dayton St. being opened.

At the May 14 meeting, council approved the fire department’s request to have the barrier that currently divides Dayton St. temporarily removed in order to create an emergency vehicle access point. As part of the motion, council wants a written agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) stating that the barrier will be restored to its original condition when the M-24 project is over.

“At this point, it’s still conceptual,” said village President Joe Frost. “We’ve approved opening it (and) restoring it, but we don’t know what any of that looks like.”

Dayton St. extends from Pleasant St. in the village to Sandhurst St., which is part of the Waterstone development in the township. Drivers cannot travel from one end of Dayton St. to the other because, just west of Chari Ct., there is a guardrail and berm, along with some trees, signage and a large rock, that block the way. This barrier has effectively created two Dayton streets, both of which are dead-ends.

Scholz requested the barrier be temporarily removed because the M-24 reconstruction, which will stretch from Drahner Rd. to Gateway Dr., is going to severely limit the routes that ambulances and fire trucks can take when leaving Fire Station #1 at the corner of M-24 and Church St.

Using Dayton St. as an alternative route would allow his units quicker and better access to the northern and western parts of the township, according to the fire chief.

In order to ensure only emergency vehicles travel between the two sides of Dayton St., village attorney Bob Davis, in a June 4 memo, recommended violators be charged with the civil infraction of disobeying a traffic control device, the penalty for which is two points on a person’s driving record and a fine of $130, not including court costs.

Davis believes that combination “should serve as a strong deterrent.” He recommended a policy of strict enforcement and “no plea bargains.”

But Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth, who lives on Dayton St., asked, “How are we going to enforce it?”

“They can’t have a cop standing there 24-7,” she said.

Frost recommended that signage stating “street closed to through traffic except emergency vehicles” be posted at Dayton and Franklin streets on the Waterstone side and at the Dayton/Pleasant and Dayton/Willow intersections on the village side.

“I think signs are wonderful, but it has nothing to do with enforcement,” Helmuth replied.

Solwold told council, “We’re going to do the best we can to enforce it.”

“We’re obviously not going to be there all the time,” he said. “We’re going to do our very best, though, with the situation.”

But Helmuth told Solwold it’s “unacceptable” to her that “there’s not going to be any enforcement unless one of your officers is not busy at that time.”

Her biggest fear is non-emergency vehicles using the opening as an alternative way to get around during the M-24 project.

“I think you’re silly if you don’t think everybody’s going to use that road,” Helmuth said. “I think you’re silly if you don’t think every kid in Waterstone whose mommy and daddy pays their bills isn’t going to use that road. And I don’t think they’re going to care about $130 and two points. And I don’t think they’re going to be caught because you guys have one officer on duty.”

Solwold offered a different perspective.

“If I have a loved one on the other side of Dayton St. and seconds count (in an emergency), I want them to get that help regardless of how many vehicles go through there that we’re not going to catch,” he said.

The chief believes it’s inevitable that “somebody’s going to slip through” from one side of Dayton to the other.

“But somebody speeds every day and we don’t get them, either. We can’t be everywhere all the time,” he said.

Councilwoman Kate Logan noted, “I would hate to see . . . our public safety resources wasted regulating a road when those (resources) are needed elsewhere in the village.”

Solwold indicated it’s “going to be a burden” on the community when M-24 is torn up next year, but he’s trying to be optimistic and view the glass as “half full.”

“This town is going to look fantastic when (the work) is done,” he said.