Traffic signal project snagged

The city already has spent $400,000 on engineering for the project.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A project designed to ease traffic congestion by linking and computerizing traffic signals has hit a roadblock.
The city has been allocated $3.2 million in federal money for the signalization project. They've already spent $400,000 on engineering for the project.
Because of the way the state plans for projects with a five-year plan, the money was programmed several years ago, but the city has learned through the Ohio Department of Transportation about a new Federal Highway Administration requirement that will add about $300,000 to the cost.
The new requirement calls for small domes to be installed as a warning system for the visually impaired at curb ramps to help them determine where the sidewalk and street meet. The domes can be detected underfoot or with a cane. The requirement is part of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The signalization project includes 82 intersections.
City officials were hoping the project estimate would come in lower than the amount of federal money programmed for it, but that didn't happen.
Here's the situation
David J. Robison, director of the city's engineering, planning and building department, said estimates came in slightly over that amount.
"Right now, it's still up in the air," Robison said.
He's working with officials at the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to try to come up with a solution.
"I'm hoping council will pass a resolution asking ODOT to exempt the project from the requirement," Robison said.
If the city can't come up with the extra money, it's going to kill the project, Robison said.
Kathleen Rodi, project engineer-program manager for Eastgate's transportation improvement program, said the domes are required for projects going back to July 26, 2001.
No plan has been laid out detailing if they have to be done all at once or in stages. "The only thing we know is it has to be done," Rodi said.
What's covered
Some projects, such as the Niles Road improvement project, are eligible for money through Eastgate to cover the domes. The estimate to add the domes to intersections along the road is $42,000, of which Eastgate would pay 80 percent.
Those funds aren't available for the signals, though. "This is a dilemma that a lot of communities are in," Rodi said.
Robison said that if officials had known about the requirement before they planned the project, the money would have been figured in and programmed.
There are no funds left because it's all been allocated for five years, Robison said.
Mark Hess, Niles coordinator of engineering, grants and development, said that city is required to add the domes to intersections along Robbins Avenue. A major renovation project on that road, one of the main thoroughfares through Niles, is nearing completion.
It will cost about $25,000 to add the domes. Hess is waiting to learn from ODOT about how to install them.