3-21-2026 12:13am

More MSP Troopers to Patrol City of Saline to Keep Trucks in Order

Expect to see Michigan State Police Troopers patrolling the City of Saline, watching truckers in violation of the law as the Data Center project continues in Saline Township. That nugget and more came from Mayor Brian Marl and City Manager Dan Swallow, who met with an official from Walbridge, the contractor for the data center project.

Walbridge has an agreement with the Michigan State Police to provide extra patrols on US-12. They have agreed to work in conjunction with Saline Police Chief Marlene Radzik to expand that to Downtown Saline. Radzik has been in touch with the post commander in Brighton.
Marl noted that, to some extent, Saline's hands are tied because the consent agreement approved by Washtenaw Courts requires heavy trucks to use US-12 rather than side streets for the duration of the project.
Councillor Nicole Rice said that while the city doesn't own the MDOT bridge over the Saline River, the city does bear the impact of truck traffic using city infrastructure.
Councillor Janet Dillon said there's been an uptick in truck traffic after a lull. She's noticed debris coming off the trucks. She said it sounds like someone's making popcorn when it hits your windshield. She also also noted the volume of dirt coming off the trucks. "There's just dirt and grit everywhere," Dillon said.
Marl said the gravel haulers will wrap up around the start of May. Then, Marl said, we will see more cement trucks. Swallow said we should see a decline in gravel trucks toward the end of April.
Dillon asked if there was a way to gauge road conditions today and again when the project was over. "So if these trucks are going to start damaging the roadway, I want to make sure that we're that there is some sort of course to have it repaired," Dillon said.

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Ali McDonald Neighbor

3-21-2026 6:18am

As we noticed the rapid deterioration and indentation of the road from all of this truck traffic, which presumably will only get worse as the weather and road surface gets warmer, we have wondered just who is responsible for the cost to repair/replace these roads? It is an incredibly long stretch and the cost will be astronomical. Sadly, our legislators in Lansing and Governor, who we have supported in the past, clearly did not think through all the consequences and significant cost before throwing money at these data center folks to encourage them to come destroy our lands and negatively impact our water tables. Ironically, we called the office of the state legislator who started this mess. His aid said the (misnamed) closed loop systems use storm drain water so no impact to wells or aquifers. Apparently the representative and his office are not familiar with the fact that Townships are being targeted, probably in large part because they don't have to pay for water in Townships, and these Townships do not have storm drain systems. The only source is to tap into our aquifers which in some other locals has caused wells serving homes to run dry. State going to pay for whatever is needed to get water to those homes? Also, these "closed loop", after adding chemicals to the water, discharge portions over time back into our environment (chemicals and all), then take more from the well to replenish it. Sense another Flint proportion disaster headed our way. Such an incredibly bad and seemingly uninformed decision by those elected to SERVE our interests.