HOWLAND Major changes made to plan for Raglan Drive and Route 46

A left turn lane will be added to North River Road at state Route 46.
HOWLAND -- The Ohio Department of Transportation has made major changes to a plan to move the intersection of Raglan Drive and state Route 46 in response to public comment after a meeting in Febuary.
The new plans, to be unveiled Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Howland Middle School, still call for the intersection to be moved 300 feet south, so Raglan enters state Route 46 directly across from King Graves Road.
This new section of Raglan will be constructed behind buildings that line the road between state Route 46 and Castle Rock Drive.
A traffic light is to be installed at the intersection of King Graves and state Route 46. Between King Graves to North River Road, state Route 46 will be widened to create two left turn lanes, said Jennifer Richmond, an ODOT spokeswoman.
Another change: Since the project was introduced last year, ODOT has changed its plans for the section of Raglan that would be bypassed by the new road construction.
The proposal now calls for that section of road to be blocked to through traffic about a quarter-mile west of state Route 46, with cul-de-sacs installed on either side.
The roads will be renamed on both sides of the cul-de-sacs.
She said the change was made in response to residents' worries that the old section of the road could be used by motorists to bypass the new traffic light.
ODOT has also expanded the $1.6 million project to include a left turn lane from North River Road to state Route 46, Richmond said.
Work is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2004.