OLIVE TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Oct. 2, 2026) – Six weeks after it had opened, the first notable crash of a redesigned junction in West Olive occurred on Friday afternoon.
According to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, a 72-year-old Allendale man, driving a gravel truck loaded with about 40,000 pounds of sand, attempted to navigate the roundabout at the intersection of Port Sheldon Street and 120th Avenue shortly after 1 PM. While making the turns necessary to get through the junction, the sand load sifted, causing the semi and its trailer to tip over onto its side.
Olive Township Fire/Rescue crews extricated the unnamed driver, and he was taken to an undisclosed “local hospital” for treatment of “non life-threatening” injuries. It took several hours for the sand to be cleared from the roundabout in order for traffic to resume flowing freely. Deputies didn’t say what led the truck to tip over, as the incident remains under investigation.
Contractors retained by the Ottawa County Road Commission took over two and a half months to convert the Port Sheldon Street-120th Avenue intersection from a four-way stop to a roundabout, one of two such projects in 2026. The other, at the junction of Baldwin Street and 48th Avenue on the Georgetown/Blendon Township line, should be completed sometime in mid-to-late October.
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