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Trustee comes around to idea for intersections
(by Sue Reid - December 03, 2008)
Trustee comes around to idea for intersections
By SUE REID
Auburn Trustees continued discussion Monday about the idea of installing roundabouts at certain intersections in the township.
Trustee John Eberly said the initial discussion came about after a recent meeting with representatives from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.
The NOACA officials presented results of their follow-up study on a traffic light installed at Auburn Road and Washington Street in Auburn. Mr. Eberly said they suggested that roundabouts may be an alternative for intersections where the township does not want traffic signals. "If you don't think the light is the answer because the light stops all the traffic, a roundabout would be a way to keep traffic flowing," he said he was told.
"As traffic goes through the intersection, it slows them down," Mr. Eberly said. In addition, if there are accidents with a roundabout, they tend to be more minor ones than those in a "T-bone situation," he said.
Specific spots in the township have not been designated for consideration, "but it's sort of a generic discussion that roundabouts are something you should look at as your future traffic increases," he said.
It could make sense on Munn Road, which is a fairly busy north-south county road, including the intersection with Taylor May Road, which is also well traveled, he said. "Right now there are no stops on Munn Road," but there are stops on Taylor May Road, he noted. That also is the case at the intersection of Munn and Stafford roads, Mr. Eberly said. "There are no lights there as well."
A roundabout would allow intersecting traffic to proceed from each side, he said.
Mr. Eberly said NOACA suggested that federal money is available to construct roundabouts. Auburn would be pioneer in Geauga County, if it moves forward with the idea, he said. "I don't know of one in the county." It's something to look at in the future, he said. "This isn't something for today."
"I want to see one in practice," Trustee Patrick J. Cavanagh said.
Mr. Cavanagh said that, when he began serving on the township's zoning commission in the early 1990s, the chairman at the time, Robert Miles, who had served for close to 30 years on the commission, was a proponent of traffic circles. "It's funny how everything old is new again, especially ideas" like the roundabouts, he said.
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