WARREN Downsize in plan to widen North Road

Original plans called for acenter turn lane along the project length.
By STEPHEN SIFFand DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- In the face of community opposition, the Trumbull County engineer has narrowed the scope of a long-argued plan to widen North Road.
After two public hearings and hundreds of written comments -- mostly opposed to the project -- John Latell, the county engineer, has announced that North Road will be widened only to 28 feet, and there will be no center turn lane.
"I am so glad that for once, the little guy is victorious," said Maridee Costanzo, who lives on North Road.
Jack Mullen, president of the North Road Preservation Alliance, also is pleased with the scaled-back plan.
"I think this shows that a group of citizens banding together can make a difference," he said.
The nonprofit North Road Preservation Alliance formed about a year ago.
'The system works'
Mullen also commended Latell for listening to residents' concerns.
"It shows that the system works," he said.
Original plans called for a center turn lane along the length of the project, from East Main Street to Youngstown-Warren Road.
The plan was scaled back to merely widening the road to 32 feet, but at a public meeting last December residents said they worried that the wider road could some day be re-striped for three lanes.
The new, reduced plan includes straightening three curbs and adding additional turn lanes onto Allenwood Drive south, Adrian Drive and Berkshire Lane.
"A three-lane road would have eased up on congestion even more, but this widening and the three left turn lanes will still meet our objective," Latell said.
This section of North Road, between 20 and 23 feet wide in most parts, is used by 14,000 cars per day and was the site of 175 accidents between 1994 and 1998, according to statistics.
Storm drains
The new plan also calls for replacing ditches with covered storm drains. Sidewalks have been removed from the plan, again at the request of residents, Latell said.
"The sidewalks were going to be for the benefit of people who live on the road, but there was a lot of opposition," he said.
Work on the $4 million project is tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2005, he said. The federal and state departments of transportation will contribute about $3.3 million, with the balance from the county and the cities of Warren and Niles.