TRUMBULL COUNTY Revised proposal cuts back on widening of North Road

The revised project will not require taking as much right of way from residents.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Engineer's office has scaled back a proposal to widen North Road between Youngstown Road and East Market Street, ditching plans to add sidewalks and a full-length turning lane.
The engineer's new plans for North Road will be unveiled at a public meeting from 6 to 8 tonight at Howland's North Road Elementary School. The plans include adding a 4-foot paved shoulder to both sides of the road, which would not require taking land from every resident's front lawn.
The project, tentatively scheduled for 2004, had originally included widening the road's right of way by 10 feet to accommodate sidewalks on both sides and a center turning lane the length of the road. This plan was scrapped as a result of the public outcry at a public hearing this summer, said Joe Kovach, a project engineer at the Trumbull County Engineer's Department.
"People didn't want the sidewalks because it would have added additional right of way and cut down too many trees," he said.
Right of way: The new plan would require expanding the road right of way in a few locations, to straighten two curves in the road and add left-turn lanes at four intersections: Allenwood Drive, Adrian Drive, Berkshire Drive and north onto East Market Street.
The 4-foot paved shoulders would allow additional room for traffic to edge around cars waiting to turn into driveways, and for pedestrians, bicycles and mail trucks, Kovach said. Ditches on both sides of the road will be replaced with covered storm sewers.
The width of the revised project is 33 feet, compared to 59 feet for the original plan.
The improvements are intended to ease congestion and reduce the number of accidents on the road, which is used by 14,000 cars a day, Kovach said. Federal grants will cover the largest share of the cost, estimated between $2 million and $2.5 million.
"I don't know if 100 percent of the people will be happy with the project, but I think the majority will," Kovach said. "It is a good compromise."