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City backs off Lander Circle reconfiguration
(by Sali McSherry - September 17, 2008)
City backs off Lander Circle reconfiguration
By SALI McSHERRY
Pepper Pike officials have decided not to pursue plans to reconfigure Lander Circle, and the city has put the possibility of a traffic light at South Woodland and Lander roads on the back burner.
In a letter sent Tuesday to residents, Mayor Bruce H. Akers said, "Clearly the Chagrin-Lander Circle reconfiguration has emerged as a very divisive issue, and, as a result, council and I agree that it would not be in the community's best interest to pursue the matter any further."
The current configuration will be maintained, he said. The city won't proceed with further consideration of the recommendations by TMS Engineers, of Stow, for a four-way traffic signal and the diversion of westbound Chagrin Boulevard traffic onto Pinetree Road to ease congestion, Mr. Akers said.
A preference ballot sent to residents in August received over 1,100 responses, with 558 against any reconfiguration, 491 in favor of the engineers' proposal and 84 were undecided.
Mr. Akers said there still are traffic problems at the circle, and the city will hire TMS Engineers to advise how to create a smoother flow there.
Several residents suggested "yield" signs rather than stop signs. Others suggested some form of traffic signalization similar to what is at Fairmount Boulevard and Warrensville Center Road in Shaker Heights. Others said the city should reduce the number of business driveways exiting directly into the circle.
Mr. Akers said 534 residents voted in favor of installing a traffic signal at South Woodland and Lander roads, where there currently is a four-way stop, and 422 opposed it, with 64 undecided.
Rather than proceeding with a signal, the city will try to address the traffic problem there with another approach, he said. The intersection has an unusually wide sweep of its curves at all four corners, causing the stop signs to be set further back than is usual, he said.
City Engineer Donald Sheehy was asked to draw up plans with four small islands in the intersection and moving the stop signs up to the islands, thereby bringing the four-way stops closer to each other.
Mr. Akers said the change would make it similar to the Lander Road and Shaker Boulevard intersection to the north.
Given the wide-sweeping corners at the South Woodland and Lander roads, he said, dedicated right-turn lanes and yield signs in all four directions between the curves and the islands could be installed. That would help expedite traffic flow, according to engineers, he said.
The replacement of the bridge on Shaker Boulevard just east of Brainard Circle will be completed later this month, and, with the reopening, there should be a return to a more normal east-west traffic pattern on South Woodland Road, Mr. Akers said.
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