HOWLAND ODOT says yes to road to store

The director of ODOT has ordered a study of the 46/82 intersection.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- ODOT has given the green light to a development that would likely increase the amount of traffic at an intersection already considered Trumbull County's most dangerous.
In a letter to township trustees, ODOT District 4 Director Mohamed Darwish announced that DeBartolo Property Group can build a driveway to channel traffic off state Route 46 to a new Sam's Club without paying for any improvements to the road.
The driveway would be next to Lowe's in an area ranked the most accident-prone in the government's office of highway safety and would be just a few hundred feet from the intersection of state Routes 46 and 82, which racks up the second-most accidents, the report says.
"While improvements are not being required of the developer, District 4 recognizes that improvements are needed in this area," Darwish wrote to Howland Township trustees.
ODOT director Gordon Proctor is commissioning a complete engineering study of the intersection because of local legislators' efforts, said township Administrator Darlene St. George.
A meeting between Proctor and local officials is planned, she said.
Traffic levels
In earlier meetings, developers discussed plans for a gas station and 300-unit apartment complex, as well as a Sam's Club, on 100 acres just off state Route 46.
As many as 20,000 cars a day could drive in and out on the single driveway to the complex, if developed as planned, St. George said.
About 25,000 pass through the 46/82 intersection each day.
Last Saturday, traffic trying to exit 82 onto 46 was backed up on the eastbound ramp when a truck plowed into seven cars, resulting in one death.
"The health and safety issue of the traffic has been the major issue for us all along," St. George said.
By pushing for a traffic study by developers, trustees hoped the company would be asked to help fix some of the problems the additional traffic could cause.
"Obviously, the state didn't go along with that," she said.
This summer, ODOT plans to add turning lanes on 46.
Between 1999 and 2001, there were 318 accidents at the intersection, including two deaths and 97 accidents with injury.
In 63 percent of the cases, one car rear-ended another, according to state statistics.