Route 224 headaches begin

By Denise Dick

BOARDMAN — Businesses near the U.S. Route 224-Lockwood Boulevard intersection began to feel the early effects this week of a project to widen the busy juncture.

“Traffic today is really out of hand,” Michael Creatore of Creatore Wealth Management Group said Tuesday.

Customers will have to schedule more time to get to the office, located in the Pelican Park Plaza on Route 224, because of the traffic backups, he said.

Creatore said traffic backed up to near the Giant Eagle store midafternoon.

The $3.2 million project is to widen Tippecanoe Road and Lockwood at Route 224 and to replace the bridge on 224 just east of the intersection. Expected completion is July 2009.

Paula Putnam, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 4, said the project aims to improve safety and reduce the intersection delay.

The Route 224 west approach of the intersection will be widened to six lanes, consisting of four through-lanes — two in each direction — and dual left-turn lanes, she said.

The 224 east approach will remain six lanes: two through-lanes in each direction, a left-turn lane and a right-turn lane.

The Lockwood north approach will be widened to six lanes: two northbound through-lanes, one southbound through-lane, dual left-turn lanes and a right-turn lane.

Putnam said the traffic signal at the intersection also will be upgraded to accommodate the added lanes.

The capacity of the intersection will be increased by lengthening the turning lanes on all four approaches, she said. The culvert on Lockwood, just north of the intersection, will be extended.

Within two weeks, motorists will have to contend with various lane restrictions in each direction as crews prepare to replace the bridge on Route 224, east of the intersection.

“We will be restricting bridge traffic to one eastbound and two westbound lanes while we build half of the bridge at a time,” Putnam said.

Bridge replacement is expected to take 60 days.

Rina Glista, manager of Creekside Beverage, said that business hasn’t experienced problems because of the project.

“We sell beer, wine and liquor,” she said. “I think people will find a way to get here.”

Glista saw some slower-than-usual traffic along Route 224 Tuesday, but customers aren’t complaining about it.

At the Flaming Ice Cube, though, customers are telling employees that if it weren’t for the specialty food and items offered there, they wouldn’t bother with the traffic, said Randi Jackson, an employee.

The store features a vegan cafe and a shop.

“Employees are having trouble getting in, making the turn,” Jackson said.

Fortunately for both employees and customers, they can enter and leave the business via Tippecanoe and then go to the light at 224, she said.

“If it weren’t for Tippecanoe, it would be almost impossible to get out of here” onto 224, Jackson said.

Pat Corsale, manager of Tippecanoe Florist on Lockwood, said construction hasn’t caused problems for that business.

“Today is really the first day they started working,” he said.