Poland officials: ODOT’s plan for I-680 won’t fix traffic woes

By Denise Dick

A major problem occurs when people exit I-680 and try to turn onto Tiffany Blvd.

POLAND — The village’s mayor and council president agree something must be done to address the Interstate 680-U.S. Route 224 interchange, but they don’t believe a proposal from the Ohio Department of Transportation goes far enough.

The more-than-$5-million ODOT District 4 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, forming a “T” onto U.S. 224. The project is scheduled for 2013.

The new ramp intersection would get a new traffic signal that would connect with the signal at 224 and Tiffany Boulevard.

The exit ramp also would be widened to two right-turn lanes with overhead signs provided and a right-turn lane added on westbound 224 to northbound Tiffany Boulevard.

“I don’t really think that’s going to do anything,” said Joseph Mazer, council president.

Much of the problem with traffic tie-ups stems from people exiting I-680 and trying to turn onto Tiffany Boulevard, he said.

He and Mayor Tim Sicafuse sent a letter to ODOT with their suggestions in late May, after a presentation of the ODOT proposal earlier that month.

“We in Poland Village are certainly elated that you are addressing the problems associated with this 224/I-680 interchange,” the letter said. “We concur that this is possibly the most dangerous intersection on the U.S. Route 224 corridor, and we also submit that this traffic situation is the worst in all of Mahoning County.”

The village officials suggest construction of a southbound exit ramp off I-680 behind the Wal-Mart store.

“Traffic exiting I-680 could make a right-turn on Doral Drive and proceed to South Avenue or turn right and visit Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, etc., or turn left to PetSmart and proceed to Giant Eagle, or continue south on Tiffany Boulevard to U.S. Route 224, where a traffic light presently exists,” the letter says.

Tiffany should also be widened, according to the officials, to continue two north-south lanes where it now is reduced to one lane each way near the parking lot of Marc’s.

“I think it would work a little bit better,” Sicafuse said. “I just think it would make more sense.”

The approach would be an easy ‘relief valve’ for the traffic congestion at the I-680 southbound exit ramp at U.S. 224, the letter says.

Mazur and Sicafuse also suggest construction of a new southbound entrance ramp from Route 224 via Tiffany South to I-680 southbound. That would allow motel customers and Boardman residents who want to go south on I-680 an easy access as well as eliminate some traffic at the U.S. 224-I-680 interchange, their letter said.

They also would like to see pedestrian islands and sidewalks added to the project.

ODOT, in its response, said construction of an I-680 exit ramp behind Wal-Mart and a southbound entrance ramp from U.S. 224 via Tiffany were both evaluated as part of a U.S. 224 corridor study and determined not to be viable options.

They would require the elimination of all access driveways between the ramps and U.S. 224. That would require a split interchange “thereby compromising the ability of traffic to efficiently access I-680 from U.S. 224, a major thoroughfare,” ODOT said.

The project will be modified to include an 8-foot paved shoulder on the north side of U.S. 224 between Tiffany and 300 feet east of the northbound exit-ramp to U.S. 224 to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

No designated pedestrian/bicycle area will be established within the project limits, though, because it would lessen pedestrian caution when crossing interchange ramps with free-flow traffic.

Paula Putnam, an ODOT District 4 spokeswoman, said the agency’s response to all comments received after the May meeting have been posted to its Web site, www.ODOTDistrict4.org, under the heading Public Meetings in District 4.

denise_dick@vindy.com