QUINNESEC — The Breitung Township Board heard a report Monday on possible traffic solutions along the U.S. 2 corridor.

Trustee Paul Taff told the board about preliminary study results the Michigan Department of Transportation shared in a recent meeting he attended.

The study found the corridor had 192 crashes from 2018 to 2022, not including the U.S. 2/U.S. 141 intersection. Of those, 10 were serious, with one fatality.

Among all the solutions MDOT explored, including more lights and a system called an indirect left, adding multiple roundabouts may be the best answer, Taff said.

According to MDOT, roundabouts could reduce the number of crashes by 20% and injuries by 70%. At the same time, adding to the number of stoplights could increase rear-end accidents by up to 140%, according to the study.

MDOT will release its final report in February. Regardless of which solution is chosen, it may be several years before any action is taken, as there is currently no money in the five-year plan for the project.

In other business, the board:

— Received a virtual tour from U.P. Engineers & Architects of the preliminary design for the township offices expansion project. The design calls for an 80-by-70-foot expansion to the east of the existing building, plus some other remodeling.

Supervisor Denny Olson had concerns the proposed design lacks enough space for elections.

“We are building this for the future and we are already squeezed, I do not see this as adding very much on,” Olson said. “Now is the time to fix the problems and I think we need more space and we should build this accordingly to accommodate elections.”

Township Clerk Karie Taff noted that in the most recent last election, only one quarter of voters actually cast their ballot in person and lines never did get too long.

Some township officials spoke as residents during the public comment period to push for a community room.

“I would like to see my tax dollars spent to build a community room,” Accountant Christina Maki said. “We are not just building it for 10 years from now, we are going to grow, and it is how much more we can do as a township if we had a facility like that.”

“If we are going to spend this kind of money, we really need a community center we need it for the community,” DPW Superintendent Jay Davis said.

— Approved the water and sewer board’s recommendation to raise the sewer rate for the EK Commercial District (Moyle Building) by $3 to $16.70 per 1,000 gallons of sewage, plus the $25 monthly fixed charge.

— Updated the fire hydrants usage fee. The charge now is a $50 fixed rate and the commercial water rate times three. Davis said while it is important to charge for the water, he thinks the current rate is leading to overcharges.

The new rate will be a $100 fixed charge plus the commercial water rate. The fixed rate will be good for 60 days.

— Appointed Michael Day as an alternate to the Board of Review.

Jim Paul can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.