HOWLAND HEARING Many oppose road project

More in-depth environmental studies also were requested at the hearing.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HOWLAND -- More than 200 residents, nearly all opposed to a plan to widen North Road between Youngstown Road and East Market Street, hooted at speakers and alleged hidden motives for the project during an unruly public hearing.
County officials had hoped that changes to their plan since the last public hearing -- including the elimination of a proposed center turn lane, the elimination of sidewalks, and compressing most improvements into the road right of way -- would quiet neighbor's concerns.
It didn't.
"I've lived there for 14 years and I've never had a problem pulling out of my driveway," said Maridee Costanzo, a lawyer who owns two houses on North Road. "I don't see a need for this project."
Revised plan: The scaled-back project officially unveiled Tuesday included adding a 4-foot paved shoulder to both sides of the road and adding left turn lanes north onto East Market Street, Allenwood Drive and Adrian Drive, and south onto Berkshire Drive.
John Latell, the Trumbull County engineer, said the work is needed to the road, which is used by 14,000 cars per day and has been the site of 175 accidents between 1994 and 1998.
"It would improve congestion and give a better feel for the road," Latell said. The wide shoulder would provide a way around bicyclists, mail trucks and broken-down cars, he said.
Skeptical: During a question-and-answer period, however, many residents complained that the shoulders could eventually be used to create another lane for traffic, as the county had originally planned.
"You have really left us a road of 33 feet," said Jack Mullen, the leader of a citizens group opposed to the project. "A road of 33 feet could be easily re-striped as a three-lane road. It has been done in Ohio time and time again."
The county's initial proposal to create a three-lane road was opposed by 90 percent of the 712 people who submitted written comments after a June 12 public hearing, Latell said. He denied that there were any plans to use the extra pavement to create a third lane later.
"The road is designed as a two-lane road," he said. "For someone to make a three-lane road out of it would be below minimum standards. It shouldn't happen," he added.
The root of many residents' concerns is that the widening is part of a larger plan involving a connecting road between North Road and state Route 46, which would help move traffic to and from the Eastwood Mall and Cafaro Field.
Latell denied that this was the case, and twice told questioners that he had never been contacted by developers or business owners while developing the road plan.
The city of Warren is conducting a study into the future need for a connecting road or other traffic improvements in that area, but the project is far from being finalized or funded, said Bill Totten of the city engineer's office.
Environmental concerns: The North Road project also has attracted the interest of an environmental group because of possible impact on nearby Mosquito Creek, a tributary to the Mahoning River.
Patricia Natali, president of the Mahoning River Consortium, requested at the hearing that the Ohio Department of Transportation conduct an environmental assessment before giving its approval for the project.
Currently, only a lower-level study of the environmental impact is planned, said Edward Deley Jr., the ODOT district environmental coordinator.
Federal funding for the North Road project is through a $1.8 million grant obtained by U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. of Poland, D-17th, and $2 million from the Eastgate Council of Governments. The county engineer's department and the cities of Warren and Niles also would contribute to the project.