PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Concrete medians installed along Plainfield Avenue have made it harder to reach businesses in the Northview area, and some shop owners say they're paying for it.
The medians, a Plainfield Township project, went in during 2025. A neighbor asked FOX 17 News on Facebook what impact the dividers have had on businesses — so I went back to find out.
At Anna's House restaurant, Tony Foster, a customer who meets there with a friend every Wednesday morning, said leaving the restaurant heading south is now a multi-step ordeal.
"The median is right in front of the exit — their entry area," Foster said. "When we want to get out of here, either you've got to turn right and go further north ... so you can turn left and then go down the street and then come back around."
Foster's preferred workaround? Cutting through the car dealership parking lot next door, where the median ends just past the business's entrance.
"It's a nuisance," he said, "but we're diehards. We're going to get together on Wednesday mornings, no matter what."
He added that another group gathering spot nearby — Russ's, just up the street — has its own access challenges because of the medians.
Anna's House wasn't able to provide a spokesperson by deadline. But across eight businesses visited along the corridor, the story was the same: customers are harder to reach, and revenue has dropped.
Owners at Big Apple Bagel said business is down 35 to 50 percent. Two employees were sent home early on the day of the interview because foot traffic was so slow.
A barber shop owner just north of Woodworth also declined to go on camera but said business has suffered.
The car dealership next to Anna's House wanted to comment but couldn't make time.
I reached out to Plainfield Township, which oversaw the median project. The township said it didn't have anything to add.
Do you have a story idea in Walker, Northview, or Comstock Park? Email robb.westaby@fox17online.com
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