BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) says it is preparing to implement a $20.3 million improvement project on Rt. 224, from Market St. east to Tiffany Square, in an effort to reduce the number of traffic accidents along the roadway.
      According to ODOT, a study of traffic accidents during the time frame of 2013-2017 showed there were 1,877 accidents along the roadway, and 30 per cent of those accident involved injury, and just three resulted in fatalities.
      “The primary crash types reported were read-end (60%), left turn (14%), and side-swipe/passing (11%),” ODOT says, adding “these types of crashes are often related to congestion and left turning movements.”
      During the same period, there were three fatalities and 12 pedestrian and bicycle-related crashes, according to ODOT.
      As Boardman Township Administrator, Jason Loree, estimates, average daily traffic counts along that section of Rt. 224 proposed for improvements is about 30,000 vehicles a day, or upwards of 10.9 million vehicles a year.
      Given that estimate of 10.9 million vehicles a year traveling on Rt. 224, from Market St. east to Tiffany Square, about slightly more than one-tenth of one per cent of those vehicles are involved in a traffic accident every year.
      So in an effort to reduce the number of traffic accidents to less than one per day, ODOT is planning on spending more than $20 million?
      Dave Handel, developer of the Shops at Boardman Park that is valued at $35.8 million, says he believes he proposed improvements will serve to deteriorate current traffic conditions.
      “I have serious questions regarding the necessity of these dramatic changes,” Handel said.
      ODOT proposes to widen Rt. 224 in order to accommodate additional eastbound through lanes throughout the corridor. Additionally, left and right turn lanes will be added at select intersections in the corridor.
      “The added capacity throughout the corridor will help reduce congestion and alleviate crashes. The additional turn lanes at intersections will allow vehicles a lane to turn from that is separated from the through traffic, helping to reduce rear end crashes related to stopped vehicles,” ODOT says.
      Also ODOT proposes what it calls intersection improvements that include removing traffic signals to an entrance to the Southern Park Mall, at California Ave., and the Applewood Commons Shopping Center; and traffic control upgrades will also be installed at the remaining signals to enhance safety and reduce crashes.
      Additionally, a sidewalk will be built from Market St. to South Ave.
      The project will dramatically reduce entrances for motorists to access businesses along Rt. 224, including the Southern Park Mall.
      ODOT claims studies show as driveways and intersections in a corridor decrease, “so do crashes.”
      The Fond Property Group has developed some $28.5 million worth of properties along the proposed improvement area, including Applewood Commons, Verizon Wireless, Steak-n-Shake, Raising Canes, Tiffany Square, Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds, Joann Fabrics and Great Escape.
      Vince Fond Jr. notes “We have already experienced a negative economic impact.”
      Fond questions the proposed removal of a traffic light at Applewood Commons.
      A study in May, 2022 “indicates this signal is one of the average to better performing signals” and “currently meets all minimum driveway spacing and turning lane length requirements as designed,” Fond says, adding “If this signal is removed, the Applewood Commons shopping center will be permanently devalued.”
      Fond notes that an ODOT traffic study “indicates that the proposed modifications, as a whole, will actually increase both the serious/fatal accident frequency...while reducing crashes by only 15 per cent” (from 375 a year to 281 a year).
      Regarding the three fatalities along the proposed project area, Fond points out “the first fatal accident involved a driver running off the road into a light pole, and the vehicle’s brakes were not applied prior to the collision.
      “The second fatality involved a motorcycle in a police pursuit at Tiffany Blvd. The motorcyclist who was evading police, was ejected.
      “The third fatality involved a motorcycle and a vehicle at Rt. 224 and Hitchcock Rd. at night, which is not in the work area of the project.”
      ODOT says that right of way acquisitions for the Rt. 224 project will begin this spring; and the anticipated construction will begin in the spring of 2026 or the fall of 2027, more than a decade after the study was made about traffic flows along project area.