Route 46 improvement project in Austintown should have more local input

EDITOR:
Ohio's Department of Transportation wants to build a new state Route 46 through Austintown. Essentially it's an $11-million project, for free. We're trying to untangle the attached strings.
The first string involves ODOT's Public Involvement Guide, which says the first step in planning a big highway project is to involve key local stakeholders. If locals are included early, ODOT can quickly learn about their concerns, and they in turn can come up to speed on how highways are planned, designed and paid for.
This SR 46 project has moved ahead quickly, and ODOT seems not to have involved local leaders on the project team. Now that the project is nearing its final design stage, just before contracts are awarded and construction begins, it's becoming clear that some of Austintown's interests have not been fully considered.
Expansion of this highway to five lanes for motorists would be permanent, a second string. Never would we be able to reduce it to something more modest. It will be extremely difficult later to add sidewalks, traffic islands, gateway signs, bike lanes, underground utilities, streetlighting or amenities.
A third string is whether ODOT's design is sensitive to Austintown's current and future character. We believe this corridor should enable Ohio motorists to travel easily and safely through the township. Two lanes each way are more than enough for that, as is clearly the case on SR 11 or I-80. One lane each way could suffice if properly designed. We believe that continuous center-turn lanes are inherently dangerous. They do not encourage motorists to drive more prudently.
We also believe this highway must provide for motorists who are traveling locally -- from convenience store to doctor's office, from church to gas station, and from drugstore to restaurant. We have not yet seen the evidence that a five-lane design without traffic-calming features would support such local uses.
We have to provide for safe use by pedestrians and cyclists, by children and seniors, and by those who are handicapped as well as those who aren't. The idea of kids' riding bikes on a five-lane highway doesn't comfort the soul. The Austintown corridor includes an Alzheimer's residence, a home for physically handicapped, a nursing home, three day-care centers, two churches, two hospitals, and more. Our interest is in seeing how the designs make reasonable accommodations for all forms of transportation and for all users.
The SR 46 expansion should support Austintown's emerging plan for development. Preliminary results of the Austintown 20/20 program indicate a community interest in making Austintown Center more user-friendly -- avoiding the look and dangers of Mahoning Avenue or U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.
The Austintown Growth Foundation supports progress. But we think caution is in order because we'll have to live with the result for many, many years.
FRED OWENS, president
Austintown Growth Foundation