Residents warn Romulus council that proposed Pilot travel center at Bining Road poses traffic-safety risks

Several residents told the council they support truck stops in general but oppose the proposed Pilot Travel Center at the Bining Road site because of traffic-safety risks associated with left turns and semitrailer maneuvers.

Aaron Lippert, who said he has experience managing Pilot stores, told the council he reviewed crash data he attributed to Michigan State Police and local crash databases and that Romulus "was in the top 10 for crash volume" in Wayne County. Lippert told the council he found 1,178 crashes in Romulus in 2024 and said a high share of accidents cluster on the Wayne–Bining corridor. "If a truck stop goes in there, people will die," he said, explaining he based his comments on prior incidents at similar site configurations.

Todd Baron, a Romulus resident, echoed the traffic concerns and said Pilot's traffic engineers had not fully addressed the left-turn design for trucks leaving the site northbound toward I‑94. Baron also cited a recent news report saying Romulus ranks fifth in the state for crashes per capita and urged the council to consider safety before approving the site plan.

Council response and process notes: Speakers asked for more time to present detailed data; the chair suggested Lippert could be scheduled for a future report to allow a longer presentation. The discussion occurred during the public-comment period; the council did not take a development decision at the meeting. The planning commission's prior work on the rezoning and site plan will guide the formal process and any future council action.