Closed crossroad will delay bus trips

The intersection is expected to remain closed until the end of September.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- School buses will be late picking up and dropping off pupils in the northeast section of the school district because of the closing of the Shields Road-South Raccoon Road intersection.
Superintendent Dante Zambrini said that during the first two weeks of school, buses probably will be 10 to 20 minutes late picking up and dropping off pupils north and east of the intersection. That includes those living in such areas as the Cloisters, Fox Den, Cornersburg, Mission Hills and the Heathers.
The delays for pupils in the northeast section of the district will last into the second week of school because drivers need to adjust to detours around the closed intersection, he said. Buses will travel on state Route 46, Kirk Road, Mission Hills Drive and U.S. Route 224 to avoid the intersection.
Avoiding traffic
Zambrini said school officials will try to keep buses out of traffic on Route 224 as much as possible.
"Our goal is to keep them moving, rather than waiting there sitting through lights," he said.
School starts Tuesday.
Six to eight buses are used to pick up and drop off pupils in the northeast section of the district, Zambrini said. He said he wouldn't know how many pupils take the bus in that section of the district until the first week of school.
The Ohio Department of Transportation closed the intersection in July to install a traffic signal and to add left turn lanes to Shields and South Raccoon roads. Traffic counts from 2000 show that between 500 to 1,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day.
ODOT officials had hoped that the work would be completed before the Canfield Fair opened Wednesday. Department spokeswoman Paula Putnam, however, said construction was delayed as a result of the heavy rains this summer.
The intersection now is slated to be open by the end of September, Putnam said.
Estimating delay
Zambrini noted that buses are typically 10 to 20 minutes late for all pupils during the first week of school while adjustments are made to make the routes are as efficient as possible. He added that bus drivers and school officials can't be sure how long a bus trip will last because they don't know how long it will take for pupils to get on and off the buses.
"At the beginning of the school year, any school year, you have in the first week adjustments," Zambrini said.
He added that buses will be driving down Gibson Road to pick up pupils this school year.
School officials said in the spring that buses would not be traveling on the road this school year if the road was not repaired by the start of school. Gary Cook, Canfield Township road supervisor, said the project to widen and repave the road is 85 percent complete. He said road crews will be covering the road with a final coat of blacktop this week.
The road, located off state Route 46 in Canfield Township, was less than 20 feet wide in places and marked by potholes and patches. The project, delayed three years because of litigation and by disagreement among the trustees, began in June.
hill@vindy.com