AUSTINTOWN — A group of residents has begun circulating petitions to send to the Ohio Department of Transportation, objecting to a proposed roundabout at the intersection of state Road 46 and New Road.

Joe Asteri addressed township trustees this week on behalf of the Austintown Residents Committee. Asteri said the group already has gathered nearly 200 signatures.

Its petition not only opposes the proposed roundabout for which ODOT recently allocated $2.2 million, but asks that the money be spent instead to install entrance and exit ramps to and from Route 11 at Kirk Road.

“ODOT does not live here. They don’t understand our traffic patterns like we do,” Asteri said.

The proposed roundabout was announced earlier this month. Ray Marsch, spokesman for ODOT District 11, which oversees Mahoning County, said the project is in its very early stages.

SAFETY ISSUE

“This proposed project is in place to improve safety in the area,” Marsch said. “The roundabout would help reduce crashes and reduce the injury rate from crashes.”

Marsch said a study conducted between 2016 and 2021 showed that an average of 18,815 cars per day pass through the intersection. He said the study also showed the intersection saw roughly 45 crashes over that period, with a 45 percent injury rate.

Austintown Trustee Robert Santos said the township is not necessarily opposed to the roundabout, but officials do want to see more data.

“I know that roundabouts work perfectly well in some areas, and not so well in others,” he said. “I won’t say it won’t work here until we see the data and it’s explained to us by whomever devised this plan.”

Santos said trustees also would like more communication from ODOT.

“We understand that it’s their road, and we’d never step on anyone’s toes, but ODOT has to understand that we filter the phone calls and when we don’t have the answers residents are looking for, it looks bad on us,” he said. “I want everyone to know that trustees will get the information our residents deserve and make sure they get it quickly.”

Marsch said the project still has to go through environmental studies and design before it gets to a state-mandated public comment period, but ODOT welcomes and intends to seek input from all stakeholders.

“We absolutely encourage everybody that lives near this intersection, or drives through there, business owners, residents, to participate and provide us with any feedback they have,” he said. “That helps us as we develop projects moving forward.”

BEING PROACTIVE

Asteri said he doesn’t intend to wait for ODOT to come to the residents.

“Our goal is to keep sending petitions until ODOT contacts us to discuss this,” he said. “We know they’ll have hearings but we’re not waiting for that. We want to bring it to them and to explain to them why they need to defer that money to the Kirk Road area.”

Asteri said he and other residents in the area are not moved by ODOT’s statistics.

“We think the roundabout is a big waste of money,” he said.

He also is not the only stakeholder to raise concerns. Michael Kurish, CEO of the Associated School Employees Credit Union, on the northwest corner of the intersection, said he is not convinced the roundabout is necessary.

“I’m wondering why this particular intersection garnered so much attention. How does the crash rate and injury rate here compare to other intersections in the state?” he said. “They’ve convinced themselves there’s a problem here, but what other solutions were considered?”

Kurish said the little information he’s received suggests that the roundabout could reduce the access points in and out of the ASECU parking lot, and also may limit which direction customers can turn. Kurish said he agrees with Santos that ODOT needs to be more transparent.

“We’re certainly within the life cycle of this project, so they need to bring the community into the discussion now before they get too far into a project that isn’t going to be acceptable to the community,” he said.

Kurish also raised concerns about how the roundabout could impact traffic flow and potential commercial development along Route 46.

“If you create that constant traffic flow, you’re not allowing those breaks that allow people to get in and out of businesses along the 46 corridor and it makes things more difficult,” he said.

Kurish said the lack of a sewer system along parts of Route 46 has stymied commercial growth, but the utility issue could be remedied.

“I’m not sure how a roundabout figures into that equation,” he said.

TRAFFIC FLOW

Asteri said the state has mishandled traffic flow in Austintown for years, and the problem could be fixed by giving residents further south access to state Route 11. He said residents in Austintown and Canfield would benefit from Route 11 access at Kirk Road, and that would reduce traffic on Route 46 and the surrounding areas.

“That access is very important. (ODOT is) using 46 as a through traffic route instead of that traffic being on (Route) 11,” Asteri said. “Those people don’t want to stop in Austintown, they want to get through, north or south. ODOT is pushing that traffic through our business district and jamming up the roads. If you’re going to spend $2.2 million, spend it wisely, and put it where the residents of both townships want it.”

Asteri said he intends to send batches of 500 signatures, or 25 pages, at a time to ODOT District 4 Deputy Director Gery Noirot. Petitions are circulating among residents and Asteri said he’ll be collecting signatures at the Canfield Fair this week, at the government building.

“We don’t know what the number is going to be, 5,000, or 10,000, or 50,000 — it’s unsure at what point they’ll take us seriously,” he said.