Targeting 224 traffic problems



The study focuses on the six-mile stretch between I-680 and state Route 11.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Bruce and Patricia Berry like some of the improvements suggested to improve traffic flow along U.S. Route 224, but they are concerned how the road work will affect their business.
The Berrys, owners of Sleepy Hollow Sleep Shop at 380 Boardman-Poland Road, were among those who live or work along the Route 224 corridor who viewed alternatives being considered to reduce traffic on one of the Mahoning Valley's most congested thoroughfares.
Ohio Department of Transportation officials had an open house Wednesday for anyone with questions or suggestions about proposed road improvements and construction.
The $1 million study of Route 224 by URS Consultants of Akron, funded by Ohio Department of Transportation and Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, started in November 2004. It focused on the six-mile stretch between Interstate 680 and state Route 11.
Alternatives
The alternatives include roads that snake behind Route 224 businesses, feeding into rear parking lots, restructuring of off- and on-ramps of I-680, and an underpass at the Route 224-Market Street intersection.
"We've opened space between us and Carpet King at the rear of our store," Patricia Berry said. "If a few barriers were removed, people could go clear out to Applewood without going onto 224."
The Berrys have owned the store for 10 years and said they wanted to be along Route 224 because of the traffic volume. They want potential customers to be happy, though, not motorists who pass their store by because they are frustrated with the traffic congestion.
"We want the traffic, but most people are on 224 because they have to be, not because they want to be," he said. "We want a pleasant experience for our customers, not a dogfight."
Although most of the proposed ideas are years away, the Berrys learned they will benefit from improvements already in the works -- widening Route 224 between the Shops at Boardman Park and Interstate 680.
The improvements near their store will include dedicated right-turn lanes, paved shoulders and reconstructed driveway approaches.
Other solutions
Other short-term solutions are construction of dual left turn lanes on Route 224 at South Avenue and upgrades to traffic signals, and widening of the Route 224-Tippecanoe Road-Lockwood Boulevard intersection. Officials said there will be two sets of dual left-turn lanes at Lockwood and widening of Tippecanoe to add a right-turn lane.
Township residents Joyce Zitkovich and Patricia Turk are pleased officials are working to resolve the corridor's traffic problems.
Zitkovich lives on Macachee Drive. She believes ODOT engineers and other officials are working hard to help residents and business owners.
"They are doing an awesome job," she said. "They have done their best to offer a lot of different options, and come up with improvements that are efficient and financially feasible."
Turk lives on Paxton Road and said the traffic problems happened because development of roads has not kept pace with residential and commercial development.
"People are using side roads that are posted 25 mph and that have intersections that just have stop signs on them," she said. "People just go through the stop signs."
ODOT officials said scheduling any long-term improvements will depend upon available funding. They said all the information presented at Wednesday's meeting will be available online in the next few days at www.mah224.com.

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