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Safer crossing ahead for Claridon intersection
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - April 02, 2009)
Safer crossing ahead for Claridon intersection
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A chance meeting in a local store has led to a safer crossing at a major intersection in Claridon Township.
On March 6, the paths of a young mother and Claridon Township Trustee Mary Briggs crossed at the BP station at Old State (Route 608) and Mayfield (Route 322) roads.
Mrs. Briggs said she was standing in line when she overheard the young mother's comments to the sales clerk. If only Claridon Township had done something about the crossings at the intersection, the woman said. The township should be accountable, the woman said. It was a heartfelt wish for the young mother, whose 15-year-old daughter had been hit by a car while walking to the store for milk about three weeks earlier.
Ms. Briggs said she told the woman that the township has little control over those roads, which are governed by the state.
Then the clerk told the woman that she was talking to a township trustee, and Ms. Briggs offered her assistance.
She told the woman that, if she would state her wishes in writing, she would try her best to get improvements at the intersection.
The young mother did just that, and Ms. Briggs went to work. Now, less than a month later, improvements are coming.
Travis Bonnett, a traffic engineer with Ohio Department of Transportation, wrote on March 18 that improvements for pedestrians would be coming in the "next week or so."
They include new crosswalks across Old State Road on the north and south sides. Another crosswalk that previously existed is to be reinstalled across Mayfield Road on the west side of the intersection. Signs will be installed on the northeast and southeast corners, directing pedestrians to cross Mayfield Road on the west side of the intersection. In addition, stop bars will be reinstalled at the intersection.
Ms. Briggs said, since first talking with the woman, she has gotten to know the family and what they are going through with their injured daughter.
She said the woman is a single mother with four children. She said the woman had to take off three weeks of work to care for her daughter after the accident and now can only work part time because of the need to provide therapy.
Ms. Briggs said she decided to go a little further and try to help the family.
Being a carpenter, Ms. Briggs said, she was able to get 2-by-6-inch beams to make a handicap ramp to help the daughter in and out of the house. The beams were donated by a local lumber store, she said.
Ms. Briggs said she hopes to organize a community garage sale to help raise funds to offset the family's medical costs.
The Burton and Claridon Congregational churches have offered their support, she said, and members of the Chardon Fire Department are pitching in as volunteers to help.
Ms. Briggs said she hopes to hold the garage sale in June, inviting the public to sell items. She said money brought in by sales of the spaces will be given to the family.
She said she also plans to seek donations at the sale for the family's benefit.
"This is the type of public service I would gladly do for my community," Ms. Briggs said.
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