Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud (left) and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi answer questions from the audience during the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce annual “Tale of Our Cities” luncheon Jan. 16 at Park Place banquet center.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi presented their state of the city addresses Jan. 16 during the annual Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce Tale of Our Cities luncheon at Park Place Banquet Center.
Hammoud spoke of parks and inclusive playscapes, public safety, and road safety, while Bazzi talked about Van Houten Park, Ecorse Creek flood mitigation efforts, the city’s water meter replacement program and its north end fire station replacement.
On the road safety front, Hammoud said private vehicles equipped with compatible technology will now receive real-time alerts that can interrupt sound system feed when police vehicle emergency lights are activated in their vicinity.
He said they also hope to equip school buses with a technology that will alert drivers with similar technology to stop when the bus stop sign is activated for student loading and unloading.
“This is just one way that we are trying to improve road safety across the city of Dearborn,” Hammoud said. “It’s great to hear that the Michigan Department of Transportation is incorporating this on all of their vehicles across the state.”
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud delivers a state of the city address during the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce annual “Tale of Our Cities” luncheon Jan. 16 at Park Place banquet center.
He said Dearborn will continue to invest in its existing parks, and has spent $40 million rejuvenating them and adding inclusive playscapes.
“What that means is every resident in the city of Dearborn will be within a 10-minute drive of an inclusive playscape where their children can play together outside,” Hammoud said.
Hammoud said the number one issue for residents is road safety concerns.
“In the city of Dearborn, we are blessed to be the second safest large city in Michigan,” he said. “All major crimes are actually down in double digits this year.”
Hammoud said the number one concern of residents is speeding and reckless driving.
He said in addition to increasing police ticketing for reckless driving, they have a multi-component plan that includes engineering, enforcement and education.
Hammoud said grant money is being used to secure traffic calming measures, which includes 60 light-up stop signs and additional speed humps, which will be installed near parks and schools in the spring.
He said schools that do not have “school zone” warning signs will receive them, and 25 highway concrete crosswalks will be installed courtesy of a $500,000 grant received from the Department of Transportation.
“We are going to continue on this process of redesigning to also ensure that they improve safety for pedestrian foot traffic, for people who are cycling and anybody using the road,” Hammoud said.
He said the city was awarded $25 million from the federal Department of Transportation last year to transform a two-mile stretch of Warren Avenue from Lonyo Avenue to Greenfield Road. Design work will commence in 2025, with construction beginning in 2026, with completion by the end of 2026 or early 2027, to help prevent pedestrian deaths along the stretch of roadway.
Hammoud urged parents to not allow newly minted drivers to obtain high-powered sports car as they first start driving, and said they don’t need the vehicle wrapped in window tinting, which significantly limits driver visibility.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi delivers a state of the city address during the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce annual “Tale of Our Cities” luncheon Jan. 16 at Park Place banquet center.
Bazzi spoke next, speaking of an upgrade in the city’s information technology infrastructure with the help of a new IT director.
He also spoke of the new playscape in Van Houten Park, and of an outdoor fitness center at Daly Park.
Bazzi said the flooding in the city caused by Ecorse Creek has presented a major challenge and impacts the lives of residents, especially the seniors living in the area.
He said he brought engineering services in-house to the city instead of relying solely on outside contractors for help with the city’s water issues and aging infrastructure.
Bazzi said the city’s water distribution system is the biggest project that the city is currently facing.
“We have so many watermain breaks in the city of Dearborn Heights,” he said. “That is one of the reasons the residents complain about the water bills, and it does affect their water billing when you have watermain breaks.”
Bazzi said the city is planning to utilize grants for various water improvement projects throughout the city, which include lead line replacement.
He said Dearborn Heights is replacing every water meter in the city, many of which are more than 30 years old.
Bazzi thanked state and federal officials for obtaining funding for the city’s new fire station, to replace the building in the north end of the city that is sinking and “in bad shape.”
“It was actually completed in ’99 but wasn’t built properly,” he said. “So, we need to replace our fire station.”
Bazzi said $2.1 million in grant money will help replace two bridges in the south end of the city near Van Born Road, and another grant, a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant through the Michigan State Police (as part of a pre-disaster mitigation program) will help with the Rouge River and the Ecorse Creek watersheds.
“It was a great year for Dearborn Heights,” he said. “We have a lot of projects for infrastructure and we are applying for a lot of grants, and we are very, very lucky with the grants.”