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Traffic light scheduled for busy McClurg intersection
BOARDMAN
Drivers are expected to see a new traffic light at McClurg Road and South Avenue starting in 2014.
There’s a target date of 2014 to install a light at the intersection, said Larry Wilson, road superintendent.
A study is being done to determine if a light at that intersection is the correct way to deal with traffic and crashes, said Patrick T. Ginnetti, Mahoning County engineer.
The conversation was part of a meeting Wednesday morning among Boardman Township trustees and businesses on the McClurg Road corridor.
Much of the concern of the business owners related to traffic issues, including how the St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center expansion will impact already-crowded roads, and the opportunity to add a center turn lane the entire distance of McClurg Road.
“There are no funds available to do any widening of the road. It’s really an impossible task,” Wilson said.
The business representatives complained about the difficulty of having tractor-trailers attempt to turn in to their businesses on the two-lane road.
The estimate is it would cost $6 million to add a center turn lane on McClurg, Ginnetti said.
“It seems like a pretty lean estimate to me,” he said. “The county would also have to purchase right of way, which increases the cost.”
Ginnetti said he did add widening McClurg to a list of projects he sent to the state for consideration for any money the county would receive from bonds generated from future income from the Ohio Turnpike.
Widening McClurg was ranked either the third or fourth project on the list the county submitted. Adding a center turn lane on nearby Western Reserve Road was the top-rated project, he said.
It’s unclear when the state will decide what projects will receive any funding from the turnpike bonds, Ginnetti said. Even if the county got funding, traffic and environmental studies would still have to be completed before any work could begin.
“We’re required to do studies. The process takes a long time to come to fruition,” he said.
Boardman Trustee Larry Moliterno said the township is looking for assistance from the business owners to determine how to make small changes that would help until larger ones can be made.
Moliterno also wants the businesses to help contact state legislators and the Ohio Department of Transportation to lobby for the larger projects.