43
Officials point to diverse benefits of SR 46 project
By ED RUNYAN
HOWLAND
A $500,000 project to lengthen two northbound state Route 46 exit lanes onto state Route 82 should reduce confusion, speed up traffic and create a more- attractive “gateway,” Howland Trustee Matthew Vansuch said.
“It gets people to where they’re going sooner,” Vansuch said of the project to be constructed by the Ohio Department of Transportation next spring. Construction will take about two to three months.
The interchange is best known as one of the main gateways into the Eastwood Mall area, but it also experiences congestion as people leave the mall and enter Howland to the north.
By creating a 368-foot extension of the exit ramp to the right, entering Route 82 east, people will have to wait less, Vansuch said.
Plans also call for the straightening and lengthening of the farther left of two left-turn lanes (onto Route 82 west) by 200 feet; this will be done by eliminating a grassy area. This will give vehicles a longer “storage” area between two traffic lights, said Justin Chesnick, ODOT spokesman.
Vansuch and Chesnick were among the officials who attended an open house Thursday at the Howland Township Administration Building to discuss the project.
In addition to the state’s part of the project, there will be a $240,000 landscaping project taking place throughout the interchange, Vansuch said.
About $160,000 in federal transportation enhancement funds and $81,000 from the township will be used to add a “Howland” sign on one hillside, perennials, ornamental grasses, shade trees and evergreens.
“Developing attractive gateways is a common theme throughout the recently updated Howland Township Comprehensive Plan,” a summary of the project says.
The project will “improve the scenic quality of an interchange located on one of the most- traveled corridors in Trumbull County,” it says.
The extension of the right-turn lane will require the state to acquire about 10 feet of the front yard of the historic Ebenezer Brown home just south of the eastbound ramp and removal of about six trees, said Sean Carpenter, ODOT environmental specialist.
Because the home is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, ODOT will have to coordinate with the state historic- preservation office to determine whether the project will have any adverse effect on the property, he said.
Bruce Gump, a Howland resident who attended the open house, said he’s pleased with the planned improvements but is concerned with the part of the Route 82 west exit ramp that requires two exit lanes to merge.
“I just wonder if there are other things that could improve it even more,” Gump said.