No Nukes in the Valley (Proposed outlet Mall on Ford Road is radioactive hot)

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing can get Canton residents more riled up than the issue of traffic on Ford Road, especially in the area surrounding I-275. I firmly believe that this is Dante's 10th Circle of Hell, eclipsing the original nine. This area has already been tagged as one of the very worst in the State of Michigan for congestion and traffic accidents, with Ford Road and Haggerty coming in at #1 for SE Michigan. Check it out here. Lots of retail, including the huge Ikea store mix with homebound traffic from I-275 to create an automotive witches brew.

After scanning social media my impression is that many residents are very hot against this development, which is set for Ford Road/Lotz area behind Home Depot. There is a backlash against what they see as more traffic and also the over commercialization of Canton as a whole aka Quality of Life.  This is countered by those who support this outlet mall for the jobs and revenue it will bring in to the Township and see endless growth and sprawl as desirable.

Going back to my younger days, this seems an offshoot of the 70s quality of life movements, such as No Nukes in the Valley. These pitted those who desired the revenue and power from nuclear plants against those mostly liberal groups and citizens that opposed the potential harm to quality of life and other more dangerous scenarios. Now the Premium Outlet Mall cannot literally melt down, but it does pose some serious questions as to traffic/quality of life issues in an area already ground zero for commercial development and traffic problems. (You can grab a view of I-275 just south of Ford Road at this traffic cam)

Proponents say that this will be at the least a regional draw, bring in people from afar in the midwest region, who will then go to Ikea, shop elsewhere, stay the night and eat out. They say that proposed future improvements to Ford road will mitigate the traffic problems.

My take on it is this. There may be nothing that can be done if this area is zoned for this type of business. That being said, this is troubling on many fronts. First the argument that this is a regional draw may be correct, but if someone is willing to drive to Ford Road/Lotz from Ohio, driving a bit farther down to Michigan avenue or another location would not be an issue. Depending on FUTURE PROPOSED improvements to Ford Road is pie in the sky. Depending on the Outlet Mall to mitigate traffic issues so that they are no worse than they are today defies adult logic, unless somehow they have invented flying cars aka The Jetsons.

Canton has managed to somewhat balance the outstanding park/leisure and quality of life aspects with the necessary but unfortunate level of commercial blight on Ford Road. This is a precarious balance which can be completely deep sixed with the addition to a mega Premium Outlet Mall in this area. To be fair, there will be less traffic on Ford Road once this development is completed. Today I hesitate to drive this area, tomorrow I will avoid it like the 10th circle of hell. No Nukes on Ford Road. What are your thoughts?