Sheetz, the popular gas station and eatery moving into southeastern Michigan, has gained approval from Orion Township for a new location on Lapeer Road.

Last August, the township’s Planning Commission approved the special land use and site plan for a 24-hour gas station and restaurant with a drive-through window.

Sheetz, though, is still working to meet the conditions of the approval and will need a formal engineering review, said Tammy Girling, the township’s director of planning and zoning.

The property at 4160 S. Lapeer Road is on a busy stretch of M-24, south of Silverbell Road. It has been vacant for years, Girling said.

Sheetz’ proposal did not generate opposition, she said.

The company did not say when construction would begin on the Lapeer Road location or when it would open.

Sheetz has encountered opposition from nearby residents in many Oakland County communities where it has tried to locate, including Royal Oak, Wixom, Madison Heights, Rochester Hills and Waterford Township. Residents say they fear additional traffic, noise, crime and light pollution, as Sheetz outlets are open 24 hours.

In Farmington Hills, the City Council rejected a proposed location at 12 Mile and Middlebelt roads. The Planning Commission approved a location at Grand River Avenue and Middlebelt.

Around the tri-county area, Sheetz says it has recently gained approval for locations at 48825 Van Dyke in Shelby Township and at 7565 Haggerty Road in Van Buren Township.

In Roseville, a proposal at a former church has spurned supporters and opponents and even potential legal challenges.

Sheetz plans to open 50 to 60 stores in southeast Michigan in the next five to six years.

Sheetz opened its first Michigan store last August on Wick Road, near Detroit Metro Airport, in Romulus, and has two stores under construction at 29225 Smith Road, Romulus, and in Chesterfield Township on 23 Mile Road east of I-94.

Other Sheetz locations that have been approved:

— 8200 Telegraph Road, Taylor
— 20623 Eureka Road, Taylor
— 45011 Garfield Road, Macomb
— 28030 Gratiot Ave., Roseville
— 31925 Van Dyke Ave., Warren
— 19001 E. Nine Mile Road, Eastpointe
— 2103 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti
— Southwest corner of 14 Mile and Utica roads, Fraser
— 45075 N. Gratiot Avenue, Macomb
— 5970 12 Mile Road, Warren
— 29455 Grand River Ave., Farmington Hills
— 39471 W. 12 Mile Road, Novi.

Later this year, Sheetz will be hiring employees for these future locations, with each store expected to employ about 35 people; most will be employed full time.

The company operates over 750 stores in Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.

Sheetz plans to open at least 2 Oakland County locations next year

Sheetz breaks ground on second Downriver location

A developer of the proposed mixed-use project on the former Kmart headquarters in Troy hinted this week that the project may be dead.

“I’m a little bit fit to be tied. Maybe we’ll see you again and maybe we won’t,” said Nate Forbes, managing partner of The Forbes Co., after the city’s Planning Commission postponed a decision Tuesday, April 22, that would have moved the project forward.

Through a spokesperson, the company declined further comment.

The commission voted 7-1 to postpone a decision on a concept development plan for the site.

Commission member Toby Buechner cast the dissenting vote.

“I want it to go through, so I’m saying, ‘No,’ ” he said.

The Forbes Co. is partnering with Stuart Frankel Development Co. on the project at the former Kmart Corp. headquarters on Big Beaver Road at Coolidge Highway. The sprawling building was demolished in late 2023 and early 2024 after sitting vacant for 17 years.

Several commission members said the plans as submitted by the partnership, Forbes Frankel Troy Ventures, were not specific enough.

The partnership proposed up to 750 residential units, 500,000 square feet of office and 300,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a 250-room hotel.

“There has to be a little bit more specificity on the uses for us,” said commission Chairwoman Marianna Perakis. “For me, it’s a total free-for-all,” she said of the submitted plans.

She said she wanted to know, at the least, the minimum amount of the development to be dedicated to residential use.

“We don’t have a clear picture” of the entire development, said commission member Jayalakshmi Malalahalli. She said she wanted more assurance that the retail portion would not include uses such as drive-through establishments.

“We’re going to have to have a little bit of faith in each other,” Forbes said, adding that his company owns the Somerset Collection shopping center next to the site, and the new development would follow the same standards on aesthetics and type of uses allowed.

He said the new development would be “very Cranbrook-esque,” with high-quality brick, stone and metal used.

The Forbes Frankel partnership first appeared before the Planning Commission about eight months ago, and made several changes, such as increasing the size of a park on the site, he said.

The Forbes Co. bought the vacant Kmart site in 2009 for $17.5 million. The company has been paying taxes, cutting the grass and providing security on the site since then, and wanted to move forward on the new development, Nate Forbes said at the meeting.

The Forbes Frankel partnership paid for the demolition, according to a release from the city.

The headquarters opened in the early 1970s. It closed in 2006, when Kmart merged with Sears Holdings Corp. and moved most operations in Troy to the Sears headquarters in a Chicago suburb.

The University of Michigan bought about 11 acres of the roughly 40-acre site for a multi-speciality health facility that would provide diagnostic and therapeutic services and ambulatory surgery.

Michigan Medicine, the health arm of UM, said in a release last year that it plans to expand clinical services and increase patient access in Oakland County.

Under the Michigan Constitution, UM is exempt from local zoning ordinances. Its portion of the development can not be reviewed by the  city, but plans do have to abide by state laws governing fire codes and other safety regulations.

University regents recently approved the schematic design. The 224,000-square-foot, four-story building is expected to open in spring 2027, according to a release from Michigan Medicine.

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Oakland County development project receives $131 million brownfield incentive from state

New ramp and lane closures are coming as I-696 is rebuilt in southeastern Oakland County.

The northbound I-75 ramp to 12 Mile Road will have one lane open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 18, for pavement repair, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The southbound I-75 ramp to eastbound I-696 will be closed from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 19, for bridge work.

Only two lanes will be open on westbound I-696 from Southfield Road to Lahser Road from 7 a.m. Monday, April 21, to late July for bridge work.

Weather can affect schedules and may result in delays or cancellations.

This is the final phase of the Restore the Reuther project. It involves rebuilding I-696 between Lahser and Dequindre in 2025-2026.

For more information, visit https://DrivingOakland.com/I696-East/.

Crews recently completed a reconstruction of I-696 between Lahser and I-275. The Macomb County portion was renovated several years ago.

Consumers Energy starts work on $182M pipeline for south Macomb, Oakland counties

Vacant Oakland County bank building to be redeveloped for residential, retail, use

Leslie Pielack has been surprised at the numbers of people who have visited a traveling exhibit highlighting Oakland County connections to the Underground Railroad.

“It’s unbelievably popular,” said Pielack, director of the Birmingham Museum and director of the traveling exhibit. “I could never have expected how important this exhibit was going to be.”

“Right now, it’s especially important to people. We want to share the whole story,” she said, referring to a recent controversy over changes to the National Park Service’s webpage that removed the word slavery and references to its brutal realities, according to the Associated Press.

The park service, which maintains a list of historical sites important to the Underground Railroad, reversed the edits after public backlash in the wake of news reports about the changes, the AP said.

The issue comes amid changes made to comply with President Donald Trump’s campaign against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government, according to the AP.

The Underground Railroad was a secret network of locations and people who offered shelter, food, directions and more to escaped slaves who traveled hundreds of miles from southern states to freedom in the North.

The Oakland County traveling exhibit is not affected by Trump’s DEI order, Pielack said.

It does not receive government funding. It’s funded by private donations and Michigan Humanities and the Michigan History Alliance, she said.

The exhibit has appeared in Oakland County libraries and municipal buildings over the past year. It started with four panels and grew to six as research uncovered additional information about Oakland County residents who assisted slaves seeking freedom or former slaves who settled locally.

As of January, an estimated 60,000 people have visited the exhibit, which tells the stories of local abolitionists and slaves seeking freedom through photos and other documents.

The exhibit, which was a cooperative effort by several area historical organizations, is on display until the end of April at the West Bloomfield Township Hall, 4550 Walnut Lake Road.

The exhibit contains recently added information on two people with West Bloomfield connections:

– William German helped the freedom-seeking Parker family in October 1859. Henry Parker and his mother and sisters fled Kentucky via the Underground Railroad, likely directed to German through the network.

– Ellis Mason was born enslaved in Oklahoma’s Indian Territory. Although Mason was sold and re-sold to various owners, he found help via the Underground Railroad to escape. Around 1878, he settled in West Bloomfield. Local historians believe he is among half a dozen former slaves buried in unmarked graves in Oak Hill Cemetery in Pontiac.

The traveling exhibit is free wherever it goes. Here is its itinerary for the next year:

– May-June: Brandon Township Public Library

– July-August: Troy Historical Museum

– September-October: Ferndale Area District Library

– November-December: Royal Oak Public Library

– January-March: Oxford Public Library

– April-May: Orion Township Public Library

It will travel to other destinations through December 2026 that have not been determined yet.

No decision has been made about what will happen to the exhibit at the end of next year.

“We’ve received so much positive feedback,” Pielack said. “People have said ‘I wish this could be up all the time. It means so much to my family.’”

To learn more about the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom, a list of more than 800 locations nationwide with a verifiable connection to the Underground Network, visit  https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/ntf-listings.htm. Several Oakland County sites are on the network.

National Park Service restores original Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad webpage

Historians working to document burial of escaped slaves in Oak Hill Cemetery

Starting Wednesday, March 19, the left shoulders of I-96 in western Oakland County will be used as flex lanes during heavy traffic periods in the morning and afternoon.

The flex lanes along I-96 between Kent Lake Road and the I-275/I-696/M-5 interchange are intended to improve safety and efficiency, according to a release from the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Green arrows on electronic signs over the left shoulders will indicate when the flex lanes are usable. A red “X” indicates the flex lane is not open and driving in it is illegal. MDOT will open the flex lanes only when it is safe to do so.

Flex lanes will generally be in use on the eastbound side from 6-9 a.m. and on the westbound side from 3:30-6 p.m. weekdays and during traffic incidents or other events that cause congestion

Suggested speeds will be posted on the electronic signs to help reduce crashes and slow traffic before reaching a congested area.

The flex routes are monitored by MDOT’s transportation operations centers, which house dispatchers from MDOT and the Michigan State Police around the clock.

The agencies share information by monitoring traffic sensors, distress calls and video feeds from closed-circuit cameras.

Not only do overhead signs indicate when the flex lanes are open, but they also allow operations center staff to direct traffic around incidents that block a lane.

A recently completed multi-year reconstruction project on I-96 in western Oakland County included work to make the flex lanes possible.

Also coming in April on I-96, ramp meters will act as traffic signals on entrance ramps to manage the flow of traffic entering the freeway during periods of heavy congestion.

When activated, drivers will stop at the red signal, then enter the freeway when the green signal is shown.

MDOT said ramp meters help reduce stop-and-go traffic and crashes, improving traffic flow.

The first flex route in Michigan was built along US-23 between M-14 and M-36 in Livingston and Washtenaw counties. MDOT is working to extend that flex route north to I-96.

“Flex routes make use of the current road infrastructure to address directional congestion (heavy commuter traffic in one direction in the morning, then the other direction in the evening) at a much lower cost than building new lanes and shoulders, as well as widening bridges/overpasses and purchasing all the needed right of way to make room for such expansion,” the release said.

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An Oakland County adult is the first measles patient in Michigan since July 2024.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Oakland County Health Division confirmed the case at a press conference Friday afternoon, March 14.

Officials received confirmation of the disease only hours before, and wanted to alert the public because measles is highly contagious and can be dangerous for the unvaccinated.

“I’m not worried about vaccinated individuals,” said Kate Guzman, Oakland County health officer. “The vaccine is highly effective.”

The infected adult had recently traveled overseas; the patient’s vaccination status is unknown. The county did not release the person’s name, city of residence, age or travel destination.

Measles is spread by direct person-to-person contact and through the air. MDHHS recommends unvaccinated people ages 1 year and older receive measles vaccination to protect themselves and those around them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed 301 measles cases in the United States in 2025. There have been three measles outbreaks, with three or more related cases, accounting for 93% of cases this year. One outbreak in Texas infected over 145 people and led to the death of a school-aged child.

Of the U.S. cases this year, 95% of those infected did not receive the measles vaccine, according to the CDC.

Guzman said infants can be vaccinated at 6 months if they are at higher risk of measles because of factors such as living with people who travel overseas or the household is hosting overseas visitors who are unvaccinated.

She said travel puts people at higher risk because of time spent in airports, where they encounter people from all over the world. Immunization rates are lower than the U.S. in some countries where the vaccine is not available.

Guzman said children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are at greatest risk of serious complications from the measles.

Measles-mumps-rubella Immunizations are typically given to children at 1 year and 4 years. After two doses, the vaccine is 97% effective, Guzman said. Adults born before 1989 who aren’t sure whether they ever got the vaccine or a booster should get one, especially if they work in health care or travel frequently.

“Let’s just get another vaccine,” she said.

Those who visited the following locations during these days and times may have been exposed to measles:

— Kruse & Muer on Main restaurant at 327 S. Main St. in Rochester Monday, March 3 from 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
— Henry Ford Rochester Hospital Emergency Department at 1101 W. University Drive in Rochester on Saturday, March 8, from 3:40 a.m. to Sunday, March 9, at 9:32 a.m. and Monday, March 10, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Additional sites of potential exposure may be identified as more information becomes available.

Guzman said it’s “unusual” that the exposure locations are this limited.

She said the patient developed a rash on March 7. Patients are contagious for four days before and after a rash appears.

If you think you were exposed to measles on or after Monday, March 10, Immune Globulin (Ig) treatment is effective within six days of exposure for high-risk individuals. That includes pregnant people and those who have a weakened immune system due to diseases such as diabetes or HIV, malnutrition or medications.

If you think you were exposed to measles before Monday, monitor for symptoms for 21 days. If symptoms develop, call your health care provider. Individuals born oin or before 1957 are considered immune.

If symptoms develop, do not visit your doctor or emergency room unless you call ahead so they can take precautions to prevent exposure to others, Guzman said.

Measles can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of measles usually begin 7-14 days after exposure, but can appear up to 21 days after exposure, and may include:

– High fever (may spike to over 104 degrees).

– Runny nose.

– Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).

– Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of mouth (Koplik Spots) two to three days after symptoms begin.

– A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on the scalp and spreads to the face and torso.

The MMR vaccine is available through some health care providers, Oakland County Health Division offices in Southfield and Pontiac, and many pharmacies. Health Division offices are located at the following addresses:

– North Oakland Health Center, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Building 34 East, Pontiac.

– South Oakland Health Center, 27725 Greenfield Road, Southfield.

Health Division clinics hours:

– Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

– Tuesday 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

– Thursday 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Visit www.oakgov.com/health for more information on measles, or contact Nurse on Call, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 800-848-5533 or noc@oakgov.com.

Nurse on Call will be available until 7 p.m. on Friday, March 14 and from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 15.

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