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Boardman 224 barriers divide state, township officials

BOARDMAN — Township officials are concerned about the Ohio Department of Transportation’s installation of lightweight bendable barriers at three locations on U.S. Route 224 and the potential damage they could cause to emergency vehicles riding over them.

But an ODOT spokesman said there is no reason to be concerned.

ODOT recently finished repaving the busy street in the township. It just installed the bendable barriers on Route 224 just west of South Avenue to prevent left-hand turns for eastbound traffic and plans to install two more by the end of the week, said Ray Marsch, an ODOT spokesman.

The other two barrier locations are just east of the Shops at Boardman Park to prevent left-hand turns for westbound traffic and just east of South Avenue to stop left turns for westbound motorists, he said.

“They reduce left-turn crashes and force motorists to go to the next intersection to turn,” Marsch said. “It comes down to safety. We understand it’s an inconvenience for motorists, but if it saves one life it’s worth it.”

Township Administrator Jason Loree said: “People are happy with the repaving, but we’re concerned about the damage (the barriers) can cause to emergency vehicles that have to drive over them. They can impede safety services. We’ve been told by ODOT that the barriers won’t cause problems.”

Loree added: “ODOT controls 224, and they’re going to do what they want. But we have our concerns.”

He wrote a May 22, 2020, letter to Gery Noirot, ODOT’s deputy director for this area, well before the project started, to express “very grave concerns over the installation” of the devices as the decision “was made with no input from our township.”

The biggest concern was safety vehicles not being “able to drive through the corridor during times of high traffic volume,” according to Loree’s letter. “We realize that you are concerned with safety and that these devices prevent crashes. However, these devices also prevent our safety services from making left turns into businesses in order to perform their duties.”

While Loree asked Noirot not to install the barriers, the work is being done.

“We’ll live with them, but I’d hate to get a police car or firetruck or ambulance damaged going over them,” Loree said.

The barriers are designed to bend back and forth when driven over and pose no danger to vehicles, Marsch said.

“It’s not an issue for an ambulance or firetruck to drive over it,” he said.

An even bigger concern for the township, Loree said, is the possibility of installing cement barriers along Route 224. Loree said ODOT officials told him that decision wouldn’t be made until at least 2024.

“That would be a huge problem for emergency vehicles as well as cause traffic issues,” he said.

Marsch said ODOT is in the preliminary stages of considering concrete barriers there, but no decision has been made.

“That’s a long-term solution,” he said. “We’re looking at that and studying the area. We’ll get input from the township and its residents. We’re actively studying that, but nothing is finalized.”

dskolnick@vindy.com

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