Open Letter: Teaching Grand Blanc, Michigan Shoppers How To Drive

Driving through Downtown Grand Blanc can take an extra 5-10 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours or special school events. Recently, residents shopping at Kroger in the Grand Mall were begging people to learn how to drive & park in that awful parking lot. Now, people in a Grand Blanc Residents Facebook Group are pleading with people to obey traffic flow when leaving Wal-Mart, Panera, Kohl's (etc.) after shopping, when exiting to Saginaw Street.

Why aren't people obeying left and right-turn-only when leaving Wal-Mart, Kohl's and Sam's in Grand Blanc?

1. They think traffic laws don't apply to them.
2. They're in a hurry and can't be bothered
3. They're too lazy to drive to the light where left & right turns are permissible on to Saginaw Street in Grand Blanc.
4. This is the place, below, it's legal to turn left or right on Saginaw Street. (Pointing out the obvious...It has a traffic signal.):

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Don't turn left when exiting from here:

Don't turn left when exiting here, either:

Please don't turn left when exiting from the last available exit point (southernmost) of the plaza:

Is it illegal to turn left when the exit is marked turn right only at Wal-Mart in Grand Blanc, MI?

• People think "it's parking lot rules... it doesn't matter." It does matter. A lot.
• When the entire Heritage Park / Deer Park area was planned, it includes a road connecting all of the parking lots and businesses from Saginaw Street to Dort Highway. Traffic Lights manage each of those entry/exit points.
• For traffic flow to work on Saginaw Street, right-turn-only options were created to mitigate accidents and exiting-traffic back-ups.
• If someone causes an accident turning left in a right-turn-only lane -- they'll be responsible. (Or, if you don't cause an accident, but get caught by the police making an illegal turn, they'll warn or ticket you.)

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How do you safely get out of Wal-Mart, Panera, Sam's Club, Kohl's in Grand Blanc?

Here's a graphic depicting designated lanes & turns at the Shopping Center:

Thank you for helping our community stay safe and be less stressed while living our best lives. Pro-Tip: Parents, please teach your new drivers the proper way to navigate this, too. (If you sense sarcasm, you're correct. This should be common sense, right?)