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Debate continues over horse crossing in city
(by Sue Reid - June 13, 2012)
Debate continues over horse crossing in city
By SUE REID
Regardless of what contribution the Cleveland Metroparks will give toward improvements to the horse crossing at SOM Center Road (Route 91) and Hawthorn Parkway, someone's tax dollars are paying for it, Councilman William I. Russo said last week.
"People on the committee feel that because the Metroparks are paying (some), it will cost us much less," Mr. Russo said. "The fact of the matter is, it's coming out of someone's pocket.
"I'm adamantly against this," Mr. Russo said. "By putting any sign up there, if people get the impression that anything will change, they are wrong."
Mr. Russo noted that drivers are not legally responsible to stop for horses, just for pedestrians.
"That's one of the main reasons I am not in favor of this," Mr. Russo said. "It will give people the false impression that something has changed."
Improvements at the crossing was initiated by the city in response to safety concerns raised by horse riders about sight distances on the road as vehicles approach the crossing. The Metroparks are in support of the project and would contribute up to $20,000 for the improvements. Revised cost estimates for the entire project is about $40,000.
Discussion continued on the issue at last week's City Council safety and public properties meeting. There, City Engineer John J. Busch reported that the Metroparks are still verbally interested in participating at some level, but there are still discussions of long-term responsibilities.
"We have to work that out," Mr. Busch said. For example, it is not yet determined who would pay the electric bill or who will be responsible for the mast-arm maintenance. Mr. Busch said he plans to send a letter to the Metroparks detailing these types of questions. He also said that at the recent meeting with them, he gave the suggestion of entering into some type of memo of understanding relative to this and with the law director's involvement.
Police Chief Christopher P. Viland also reported to the committee that his officers did selective enforcement in that area and "there is no discernible speed problem."
Mr. Viland said, toward the end of March and beginning of April, over a two-and-a-half week period of time, he sent officers there at random times seven days a week, including early morning, rush hour, afternoon and evening to get a sampling of how much traffic is actually at the crossing.
Informal statistics showed roughly 38 vehicles an hour, one horse every two to three hours and a pedestrian every 10 minutes. Mr. Viland said the pedestrian numbers may have been inflated as there was a marathon training going on at the time.
"Officers never saw a single close call," Mr. Viland said. "They were specifically told to watch for those issues. No horse waited longer than 15 seconds to make a crossing."
Mr. Viland said this is a perceived safety issue. "It is more of a perception than a reality," he said.
In addition, Mr. Viland said, for roughly a decade, there were no documentable traffic accidents related to crossing SOM Center Road in that area.
"The simple fact is, we have not had accidents," Mr. Russo said.
"If you are doing a cost-benefit analysis, you have to determine if the amount of money the city would be spending is a legitimate benefit for the city for that amount of money," Mr. Viland said. "In terms of the amount of money they were planning on spending, I don't know that the problem requires that."
Just because we are a city that has significant funds, it does not warrant spending money in this instance, Mr. Russo added.
"We can spend money on our residents to take a safe situation and make it safer," Councilman Edward H. Kraus said. In municipal government spending, "we see the direct benefit of the money we spend" for our residents, Mr. Kraus said.
"I disagree with that," Mr. Russo said. "There is no guarantee that putting a signal up will make it safer.
"What is disconcerting to me is that right now, it seems that whatever people want, the easy thing is to give it to them," Mr. Russo said. "This is a microcosm of what's gong on locally, statewide and nationally. It seems like an insignificant amount spent, but when you add them up, there are more expenses going on in these kinds of settings than there are tax revenue."
Resident Tess McCarihan, a horse rider in favor of the improvements, said, issues at this crossing have been raised since 1995.
"It's only gotten worse," she said. "This is where the expense is warranted. As a taxpayer, we don't feel safe using that crossing. Having some sort of crossing or signal there would enhance safety."
"There are other taxpayers in the city adamantly opposed to putting this up," Mr. Russo said.
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