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Blocking of emergency vehicles examined
(by Mike Klimko - September 17, 2008)
Blocking of emergency vehicles examined
By MIKE KLIMKO
The effort to maintain clear drives to the new fire station in Solon emerged as top priority during discussion last week by City Council's safety and public properties committee.
A reworking of traffic signals and a possible crackdown by police on traffic blocking the drives from the station at the southwest corner of SOM Center (Route 91) and Bainbridge roads were among the measures under consideration.
At the request of the committee, those measures and other potential ways to assure clearance for fire department vehicles were to be reviewed this week by the traffic task force.
Construction of Fire Station No. 2 was completed in late spring. Traffic blocking the drives this summer led Councilman Edward K. Suit to raise the safety issue.
Traffic did not seem to be an issue in the time that the previous fire station operated at the location, Councilman William I. Russo said, questioning why it is now considered to be a problem.
There has been an increase in traffic, Police Chief Wayne E. Godzich said.
The drive to the fire station on Bainbridge Road was relocated, bringing more vehicles into the area of the drive, Mr. Suit said.
The problem points to the need to construct the connector road as part of the Central Park project and realign the intersection at Bainbridge and SOM Center roads, Councilman Edward H. Kraus said.
Mr. Russo agreed. The city must get traffic off SOM Center Road, he said.
The connector road proposed by the Coral Co. would link the Route 422 interchange at SOM Center Road with Aurora Road (Route 43), crossing Bainbridge Road east of City Hall.
Blocked drives are a problem at a fire station located near a major intersection in any community, traffic engineer Kevin Westbrooks said.
Vehicles turning left onto Bainbridge Road from the Walgreens drugstore across the street from the fire station also contribute to the crunch during rush hour, Mr. Suit said.
One way to keep vehicles away from the fire-station drive on Bainbridge Road would be to restore pavement striping that was removed when the drive was relocated, Mr. Westbrooks said.
Congestion also could be reduced on Bainbridge Road by permitting right turns on red at SOM Center Road, he said.
Those turns are nearly impossible to make when traffic backs up on SOM Center Road, Mr. Suit said.
Adding to the amount of time of green signals for southbound traffic on SOM Center Road's intersections with Bainbridge and Aurora (Route 43) roads could help prevent backed-up traffic, Mr. Westbrooks said.
The city must account for all the drives in the vicinity of the fire station, he said. There is no perfect solution under present conditions, he said.
Safety vehicles do have room to make turns either east or west from the drive on Bainbridge Road, Fire Chief William J. Shaw said, noting the presence of three lanes, including a center turn lane.
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