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Engineer sees clutter with duplicate road signs
(by Sue Reid - January 21, 2010)
Engineer sees clutter with duplicate road signs
By SUE REID
Solon's traffic engineer has recommended the removal of some signs that are duplicates and blocking other signs, following a request that he review them for clutter.
Engineer Kevin Westbrooks presented the information last week to City Council's safety and public properties committee, which approved a motion to refer the changes for the service department to remove the duplicate signs.
Mr. Westbrooks' report was based on a request last month from Councilman William I. Russo, newly appointed chairman of the committee, who asked that all signage in the city be reviewed.
Mr. Russo, who has spoken out in the past about the number of signs in the city and questioned their effectiveness, said there are sections of the city where signs are duplicated and hiding other signs. He had asked Mr. Westbrooks to pay special attention to those along SOM Center Road (Route 91) in front of Solon Middle School.
Mr. Westbrooks said that lane-use control signs are the "main culprit." Driving northbound on SOM Center Road from Ada Drive and Arthur Road, there is a series of four lane-use control signs located on the east side of the road. The first two indicate the lane use at the drive at Orchard Middle School and the next two are for the dual school drive intersection, he said. Each of the second pair of signs is located near a sign for the school, and blocks the view of those signs.
In the southbound direction, Mr. Westbrooks said, there are two lane-use signs approaching the dual school drive intersection, with the one adjacent to the stop bar blocking the school crosswalk sign.
All of the signs are located appropriately based on guidelines of the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, he said, but not all of the lane-use signs are required.
Mr. Westbrooks said this section of SOM Center Road is five lanes throughout, with marked left-turn lanes at intersections and striped-out pavement between. Since the lanes are consistent, with no alignment changes, the second pair of northbound lane-use signs could be removed without creating confusion for motorists, he said. The second southbound lane-use sign also can be removed, he said.
"This would reduce the sign clutter and improve the visibility of the school signs," Mr. Westbrooks said.
Mr. Westbrooks said it is his recommendation that the two northbound and one southbound lane-use signs be removed. "If there is a concern about driver confusion, a left-turn-lane sign could be mounted on the mast arm of the signal poles at the dual school drives in each direction," he said.
Additionally, Mr. Westbrooks said, driving southbound on SOM Center Road from Inwood Drive-Portz Parkway, there is a series of signs including a lane-use sign, a 35 mph sign and another lane-use sign. The lane-use signs are for the driveway to Solon Community Park. The first one is close to the speed-limit sign and somewhat blocks the view of that sign, Mr. Westbrooks said. He recommended moving the lane-use sign back approximately 50 feet to allow for a speed-limit sign to be more visible.
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