.jpg)
US 10 in the Village of Custer, looking west
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
CUSTER — The town hall meeting to discuss the US 10 speed limit in the village has been moved to the Mason County Eastern cafeteria. The meeting, which is the regular monthly meeting of the Village Council, is Monday, March 3. A budget meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. followed by the town hall meeting at 7 p.m.
Village President David Sanders said the council wants to hear from the public about thoughts on the speed on the highway. The meeting comes after a two vehicle crash killed Mason County Easter High School student Samantha Jo Bateson, 16, last week at the intersection of US 10 and Main Street (Custer Road). Though speed was not determined as a factor in the crash, village officials and Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole are concerned about the speed there and have been for quite some time.
Last week MCP posted an article quoting the sheriff and village president about their thoughts on the speed. The article discussed the two local officials’ view of previous meetings with Michigan Department of Transportation.
John Richard of MDOT communications reached out to MCP with more information.
Richard said MDOT had not committed to reducing the speed limit on US 10 in the village but rather has committed to implementing a new school speed zone of 35 mph during select times of the school day, though both Sheriff Cole and Village President Sanders recall different conversations.
Even though there is heavy student traffic around noon, when the crash occurred, Richard said that even with the school speed zone in place that — for an unexplained reason — speed wouldn’t be reduced during that time. School speed zones are only in effect for 30 minutes at a time, during drop-off and pick-up times. There is heavy student traffic during that time because high school students are leaving the school to attend Career & Technical Education at West Shore Community College.
Richard said permanent speed changes must be approved by the state legislature, therefore state officials did not promise to reduce the speed limit, as stated by Village President Sanders. For comparison, the speed on US 10 in front of Mason County Central High School is a permanent 40 mph.
Richard said the posted speed limit on US 10 in the village, from 1960 to 2011, was 40 mph. In 2011, the speed was increased to 50 mph, apparently by the legislature.
“A recent informal speed study showed that most drivers were exceeding the 50 mph speed limit,” Richard said. “If an official speed study were to be conducted now, it would have to follow state law based on the 85th percentile, and in this case the speed limit would likely be increased. So the best option was to establish a school zone. A school zone is different, as it is only enforceable during very specific times on active school days. It does not lower the speed limit outside of those conditions.”
Citizens who would like to see a reduction in speed limit on US 10 should contact their state legislature to encourage him to seek formal legislation to reduce the speeds. Contact Sen. Jon Bumstead at SenJBumstead@senate.michigan.gov, Rep. Curt VanderWall at CurtisVanderWall@house.mi.gov or Rep. Joseph Fox at JosephFox@house.mi.gov.
To express concerns to MDOT email Cameron Lipko, MDOT traffic and safety engineer at LipkoC1@michigan.gov. and/or Suzanne Mulder, assistant operations engineer, can be reached at MulderS@michigan.gov.
_______________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
The easiest way is to sign up for an automatic monthly payment on Paypal. Click this link.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
If you would like to support MCP/OCP but do not wish to receive daily emails, please consider sending a contribution to any of the above methods or pay by Venmo (@masoncountypress).
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454.
