Route 224 proposal turns vexing

Completion of the study is fourth in a 14-step process.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- U.S. Route 224 business owner David Cherney worries that proposals to limit left and right turns in and out of businesses along the busy corridor will deter customers.
Cherney owns the plaza at Glenwood Avenue that houses a Subway, Ace Cash and other businesses, as well as a plaza across from Southern Park Mall where Elmo's Bras is located.
If someone is driving from Canfield, for example, to go to the Subway in his plaza, but can't make a left turn to get there, they'll go some place else to eat, he said.
"I feel this will deter business from Boardman," Cherney said after a steering committee meeting today on the U.S. Route 224 corridor study. "The limited access in and out of businesses, the restricting left turns and consolidating driveways will confuse the public."
Consultants hired
In late 2004, Ohio Department of Transportation and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments hired URS Consultants of Akron to conduct the corridor study of the roughly six-mile stretch of U.S. 224 between Interstate 680 and state Route 11.
The cost is $1 million.
URS delivered recommended improvements and conceptual alternatives last week for the corridor. Steering committee members, including representatives of Boardman, Eastgate, ODOT and the Mahoning County Engineer's Office, met to discuss those recommendations.
Canfield Township officials, who also sit on the committee, didn't attend.
Some suggestions include a median down the center of Route 224, restricting right and left turns in and out of different business and consolidating business driveways.
Judy Bennett of URS asked committee members to forward additional comments and suggestions to the company within two weeks.
Completion of the study marks step four in a 14-step process that will likely take years before any construction occurs.
Intersection proposals
Cherney also questioned proposals for the state Route 7-Route 224 intersection. Suggestions include creation of an underpass of through lanes beneath Route 7 with the outside lanes on U.S. 224 going up to Route 7 and providing access. The other alternative suggested is dual-left turn lanes at all intersection approaches.
"There are no recommendations beyond the two conceptual alternatives for Route 224 and state Route 7," said Eric Smith of URS.