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Ohio plans project to lessen congestion at I-680 and Route 224
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By Denise Dick
BOARDMAN — If you’ve ever tried it, you know that heading to Boardman on U.S. Route 224 from Interstate 680 southbound can be a trying experience.
West Side Youngstown resident Mary Moon knows the challenges of this interchange.
“I don’t travel that exit much any more because of the difficulty of getting off,” she said. “However, I used to travel it at least five times a week when I worked for Value City Department Store several years ago.”
Moon believes the basic problem is people not using their turn signals.
“If people would let you know that they were turning into Tiffany Boulevard, it would likely make less congestion,” she said. “The cars on 224 would more than likely know that cars coming from 680 were not going to pull out in front of them.”
Traffic was heaviest between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., she said, and particularly congested around Christmas time.
Relief may be on the way in the form of a proposed Ohio Department of Transportation District 4 project scheduled for 2013.
ODOT plans an open house regarding the proposal from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdayat the township government center, 8299 Market St. to review the project.
The proposal calls for a change to the interchange from southbound I-680 to the westbound Route 224 exit ramp. The ramp will be moved about 350 feet east.
“Rather than a dog leg, it will be more of a T onto 224,” said Jerry Jones, an ODOT spokesman.
The new ramp intersection also will get a new traffic signal that will connect with the signal at 224 and Tiffany Boulevard.
The exit ramp also will be widened to two right-turn lanes with overhead signs provided.
“There would also be a right turn lane added on westbound 224 to northbound Tiffany Boulevard,” Jones said.
Justin Chesnic, another ODOT spokesman, said the aim of the project is to ease congestion.
Another portion of the project is construction of a free-flow right-turn lane on the westbound Route 224 approach to the I-680 northbound entrance ramp, with barriers erected to separate the right-turn lane from the intersection.
Moon believes it sounds like a positive change.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.