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Chardon Sqaure traffic plan still has way to go
Chardon Sqaure traffic plan still has way to go
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon City Council got a lesson on the city's efforts over the past 30 years to reduce congestion and divert traffic from Chardon Square.
City Planning and Zoning Administrator Steven Yaney, city Engineer Douglas Courtney and Public Service Director Gayland Moore provided council with an overview the efforts as the city looks to complete the picture.
Completing that picture involves a realignment of Park Avenue at Wilson Mills Road and shaving the hill on Wilson Mills Road to the southwest. It also involves completing a connector road from Water Street (Route 6) at Meadowlands Drive to Wilson Mills Road.
Mr. Courtney said about 75 percent of the thoroughfare plan the city has been working on since 1980 is complete while the remaining projects comprise about 25 percent.
He listed each project the city has undertaken to improve traffic flow since the 1980 thoroughfare plan was adopted. Those improvements included adding turn lanes along Center (Route 44), Water and South streets as well as an integrated traffic light system throughout the city. At North Street and Canfield Road, the roadway was shaved 4 to 6 feet to improve sight distance for those on Canfield. Two-way traffic along Chardon Square also helped move traffic through the town, he said.
But some projects take a lengthy period because of funding and timing. He said the realignment at Fifth Avenue and Center Street took 10 years until funding was available and the city could acquire the land needed. He said only after the Heinen's supermarket moved in was the city able to negotiate for the land needed for that project.
Council President Philip King, who said he has lived in the city for 58 years, said he understands the need for improving sight distance at Canfield Road. "That was nasty," Mr. King said. He said he sees a similar need to improve sight distance at Wilson Mills Road and Park Avenue, where a hill obstructs the vision for those at Park Avenue.
In many of the cases, developers can foot the bill, Mr. Courtney said. He said the Canfield Road extension to Maple Avenue was one such project, as was the Meadowlands Drive extension for the new shopping center.
Some of the "missing links" still in the works are an extension of Seventh Avenue to Park Drive, and Park Avenue to Water Street. He said there is also discussion about extending Cherry Avenue to Fifth Avenue, but there are doubts as to how much good that extension will accomplish.
Mr. Moore said often the projects are done like pieces of a puzzle with some being accomplished in various phases. "We need to keep putting in the pieces of the puzzle," he said.
Mr. Moore said the idea of a bypass around Chardon Square was possible when discussions first began, but a change in state law no longer allows the city to have any control of property outside the city limits.
He said the loss of the ability to take land outside the city has made the connector roads more important now.
Councilwoman Leslie Bednar asked whether protecting neighborhoods is considered as the city looks to build connector roads. She said the connector road being considered between Water and Wilson Mills could change the character of the neighborhood for those along Park Avenue. And, she wondered if they could also impact Moffet Avenue and Huntington and East King streets.
Mr. Courtney said he believes the connector road would be used to take traffic to South Street and the other streets would not be affected.
Mrs. Bednar asked that how the changes affect neighborhoods be given just as much priority as moving traffic. She said what may seem "very wonderful right now" may be found to be a problem in the future.
Mr. Moore said when the city integrated its traffic signals throughout the city, it gave priority to the main streets in town. He said he still gets complaints from those who choose the side streets about long waits at traffic signals. But, he said, they don't realize they could get where they are going quicker by taking the main streets.
Mr. King said he still sees people attempting to use the alley behind the west side block of stores on the square, thinking they can get to the school quicker. He said he wished the public would realize the main streets offer the quickest way.
Councilman Robert Cromwell said he has yet to hear justification for the $1.7 million cost of improvements at Wilson Mills Road and Park Avenue. He said two sets of four-way stop signs at that intersection and at Daniels Drive would be considerably cheaper. "It would make everybody stop, make everybody slow down, so they don't come screaming over the hill," he said.
But, Mr. Courtney said, there is the Hidden Glen development on Wilson Mills Road that is only in the first of three phases and a property across from that is proposed for another 150 or so homes. He said once that development occurs, traffic at Wilson Mills Road and Park Avenue will double. He said the improvements are needed before that development occurs.
Police Chief Timothy McKenna said times have changed. If vacancies in the various plazas are filled, that will draw more traffic into town. He said when he and other members of council went to school, they walked. Now, he said, everyone is driven.
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