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State project aims to ease Route 224 congestion
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By Denise Dick
ODOT will host an open house on the plan Tuesday in Boardman.
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 onto 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. Tuesday at 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.
“I think the changes would greatly improve the flow of traffic,” she said. “It sounds like a great improvement to solving the problem.”
Some who work near the interchange agree that improvements are sorely needed.
Kevin Thomas, one of the owners of Scacchetti’s Italian Steakhouse, Tiffany Plaza, believes it’s one of the most congested and bottlenecked intersections in the state.
“It must have been designed in the pre-Boardman boom era,” he said.
It’s particularly bad during the Christmas shopping season, Thomas said.
It’s also a safety issue with so many cars traveling through.
“It needs something done,” he said.
Nick Ludben, assistant general manager at Nicolinni’s Ristorante II, Route 224, agrees.
“That intersection is a disaster whether you’re trying to get off of 680 or get on to it,” he said.
The proposed changes sound like an improvement, Ludben said.
Township Administrator Jason Loree said he looks forward to seeing the plans and blueprints for the project.
“It sounds like they’re taking into account the craziness that occurs on U.S. 224 at 680 and hopefully, this will make it better,” he said.
The project also includes rehabilitating the steel beam bridge over I-680 including widening the shoulder on the north side, to improve drivers’ visibility when looking east to exit the new I-680 southbound exit ramp.
The bridge over the tributary to Yellow Creek also will be modified to accommodate the new right-turn lane on the westbound Route 224 approach to I-680 northbound.
Total project cost is about $5.2 million.
The open house, which won’t involve a formal presentation, will allow residents, business and property owners and public officials to offer comments about the proposed improvements.
Written comments may be submitted by May 28 to Eric M. Czetli, District 4 Deputy Director, Attn: Jack Noble, District 4 Planning and Programs Administrator, ODOT, 2088 S. Arlington Road, Akron 44306-4243.
denise_dick@vindy.com