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Aurora Road signs, stripes due for test
(by Sue Reid - April 25, 2012)
Aurora Road signs, stripes due for test
By SUE REID
Short-term recommendations to improve traffic flow along Aurora Road (Route 43) are planned in conjunction with Solon's annual street-striping program this spring.
City Council's safety and public properties committee approved a motion last week that the recommended priorities for Aurora Road traffic be implemented this year and forwarded to the public works committee for review. The short-term improvements east of SOM Center Road (Route 91) could be done quickly and at a fairly low cost, the committee said.
The committee recommended that mid- and long-term recommendations be incorporated into future plans, if necessary.
"Residents in our city have been looking for solutions for this area for a long time," Councilman Richard A. Bell said. "It's a long time coming."
Solon traffic engineer Kevin Westbrooks had provided the committee short-, mid- and long-term recommendations for the road, based on traffic studies performed by URS Engineers. The study, which was discussed in a meeting with resident meeting in February, looked at Aurora Road, between the Solar Shopping Center and Pettibone Road. The main focus is in the area of Portz Parkway, Ayleshire Drive and the Carrington Court senior housing complex.
With no traffic lights at those intersections, major complaints from residents in the area have concerned constant eastbound traffic toward Liberty Road, making it difficult from them to make left turns out of their developments to drive west on Aurora Road. Residents have complained of being trapped, having to wait extended periods of time to exit and traffic backups that block their intersections and their views.
One of the short-term recommendations to be done this year involves delineating lines on the side streets. City Engineer John J. Busch said the striping will be done at Aurora Road and Clearwater Court to alleviate confusion and allow right turns without being blocked by left-turning vehicles. It's wide enough there to be striped for right and left turns, he said.
Another recommendation to be implemented will be striping on Aurora Road at Ayleshire Drive, where short left- and right-turn lanes will be designated. That also will alleviate confusion and allow motorists to make right turns onto Aurora Road without being blocked by left-turning vehicles, he said.
The third short-term recommendation is to post signs and add pavement markings that prohibit left turns from Portz Parkway to Aurora Road.
Mr. Busch said, once those are implemented, the city will review and revisit the situation to see whether they address the problems. At that point, officials would consider the mid- and long-term recommendations, which are more costly, he said.
Long-term solutions involve adding turn lanes at Liberty Road or the possibility of changing of Aurora Road from two lanes to three lanes.
"Long-term solutions are harder to digest for some residents," Councilman Edward H. Kraus said. He likes the way Mr. Westbrooks laid out the recommendations and priorities, tackling short-term recommendations, which are "no brainers" and can be done quickly and at a low cost, he said.
"This is how the residents laid it out, and their feedback was critical in this," Mr. Kraus said. "It's good for the city to have a guide or road map knowing there will be no major extension of this being a four-lane road."
Mr. Bell said the long-term solutions "are not set in stone. There is a lot of language we will have to modify and review as we go along.
"At least we will have three things we can do immediately to try to offer our residents a solution," he said.
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