Muslim community leaders say they believe the city's original
analysis of the intersection where two Engineering students were
killed was poorly done, prompting city officials to conduct another
study of the area.

The November study examined the intersection of Plymouth Road
and Beal Street, to determine if a pedestrian-activated traffic
light is warranted. The new study's results will be released Feb.
17.

Some city officials are concerned that an unwarranted signal
could cause problems in traffic flow in the area.

The study came after Teh Nannie Roshema Roslan and Norhananim
Zainol died while crossing Plymouth on their way home from an
evening prayer at the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor.

The report lists 11 conditions which, if met, could warrant a
traffic light but the report stated that none were met.

These requirements for traffic signals come from the Michigan
Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

Muslim leaders said there are problems with the report. They
said the traffic counts conducted do not accurately reflect the
traffic at the intersection.

According to City Administrator Roger Fraser, the traffic counts
are usually performed by mechanical counters, but the counter
machines malfunctioned due to the cold weather.

Leszek Sipowski, who is the senior project manager for the city
and prepared the report, said it is difficult to tell why the
traffic counters malfunctioned.

"In low temperatures it very often is a droplet of water
freezing in the hoses. In this particular case, it could have been
also a slow speed of Islamic Center traffic," Sipowski said.

Due to the counters' malfunction, the report was based on manual
counts made by city technicians, which Muslim leaders say are
unreliable.

Islamic Center President Nazih Hassan said the technicians were
not present during peak traffic times.

Last month was Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims, and
Taraweeh prayers were held each evening. Hassan said the prayers
drew about 600 to 700 people each night, with cars arriving between
6 and 7 p.m.

The technicians were present for the arrivals, but left before
cars departed between 9 and 10 p.m. Hassan said that means the
technicians missed a crucial time for traffic evaluations.

The traffic analysis also said that even though the Islamic
Center parking lot was full on the last Friday of Ramadan, the
condition for a traffic light was not met because it was a special
day for Muslims.

But Abdallah Nasr, who is the president-elect of the Islamic
Center, said on Fridays, the parking lot is always full and on
other days, it is half-full.

Nasr and Hassan both agree that the Friday prayers bring in the
most traffic.

"The most hazardous situation is created between 12 and 3 p.m.
when heavy traffic comes in and out of the Islamic Center drive for
the Friday prayers," Nasr said. He noted that many student
pedestrians from North Campus also come to the mosque for the
prayers.

Sipowski said traffic analyses usually use 24-hour counts,
although there is no requirement to do so.

"The logic behind it is that if the warrant is not met during
say the 12 busiest hours, the chance that a warrant is met outside
this time period is negligible," Sipowski said.

In addition to road traffic counts, minimum pedestrian volume
was also measured. Nasr said many pedestrians are students from
North Campus who cross the road to reach either the Islamic Center
or the Willow Tree apartment complex, which is located behind the
center.

"There is a continual flow of pedestrians and there is no
specific time of a peak in pedestrian volume," Nasr said.

The report states that the highest average volume at the
intersection was about 20 pedestrians per hour. Nasr estimated that
the volume was a little higher, at about 25 to 30 pedestrians per
hour.