ODOT likely won't use plan

A group member says ODOT isn't working to meet local goals.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The Ohio Department of Transportation says it doesn't expect to turn state Route 46 into a boulevard with a raised median at the request of a group of local residents and officials.
ODOT is planning to widen state Route 46 into as many as five lanes in the township. The group had suggested that ODOT widen the road into a boulevard with a raised median and turn-lanes at intersections.
It also has proposed building sidewalks and bike paths and installing underground utilities and streetlights.
Sent letter
ODOT recently sent a letter to township Administrator Michael Dockry, a member of the group, stating that money set aside for the widening project must be used for "maintaining state roadways and bridges." The letter said that as a result, ODOT couldn't use that money to build the boulevard.
Even if another source of funding for the work is found, ODOT said it would still need proof that the boulevard would improve safety along the road. State officials have said that their project is designed to improve safety.
The letter also states that there are no plans to add streetlights on the road but that ODOT would consider adding sidewalks as a separate project in the future. ODOT also is waiting for information from utility companies about the cost of installing underground utilities, the letter states.
Group's concern
The group of local residents and officials is concerned that widening state Route 46 to five lanes would make it a freeway that would allow drivers to bypass Austintown. The road also has been mentioned as a possible site for commercial development during meetings for 20/20-Austintown, an effort to create a plan for the township.
Fred Owens, a member of the group and president of the Austintown Growth Foundation, responded to the ODOT letter with a letter to Mohamed Darwish, deputy director of ODOT District 4. Owens says in his letter that he "doesn't detect any serious effort on the part of your ODOT team to try to help us meet our local development goals.
"We expect construction not to begin until the project is acceptable for all," he wrote.
Owens also said studies show that medians are safer than the middle turning lane ODOT plans to create on the road. Work on the project is expected to begin in 2006 and cost about $6 million.
Owens said the group hopes to meet with ODOT in the near future to discuss the road plans. He wrote in his letter that ODOT officials used their last meeting, on April 24, to "focus on ODOT and ODOT's standards, not Austintown's concerns."
hill@vindy.com