 Local business owners near the intersection between McClellan Avenue and the Marquette Bypass petitioned the city and MDOT in November 1996 to reconfigure the intersection, calling it "confusing", "dangerous" and "inconvenient".The intersection was configured as a Michigan left design when McClellan Avenue was extended southward past the expressway in 1994.Transportation planners defended the design, saying the intersection was actually safer than several others in the city, even if its unique status made it unfamiliar to local drivers.