HOWLAND — Police said there were no extra holdups worth noting Friday near the Ohio Department of Transportation’s construction site in the area of state routes 46 and 82, where the interchange is being rebuilt and revamped.

Black Friday shoppers made their way to the Eastwood Mall Complex in Niles from all over throughout the day, and while the annual sales day usually drives up traffic any other year, Howland Police Department said the traffic throughout the day seemed normal.

“We haven’t seen anything impactful,” said Assistant Chief Jeff Urso. “We haven’t heard anything from our road department, and we aren’t seeing any other increases. So under the circumstances, traffic is actually moving well.”

Urso’s comments were made following Chief Nick Robert’s description of the traffic in comparison to last year’s months of September and October.

“We’ve had one less crash,” Roberts said Sunday. “We had 27 crashes last year during this time frame and 26 this year. “In 2022, in this time frame, our officers made 44 traffic stops. And in the same time frame this year, we’ve made 140. So we’re in these areas a lot, we’re watching what’s going on and we’re keeping an eye on traffic.

“I understand people are frustrated, but it’s just how it’s going to be for a while with construction,” the chief said.

Roberts further added that motorists need to stay patient, stay off their cellphones while driving and pay attention to the traffic pattern.

EASTWOOD MALL

Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for the Cafaro Company, said that traffic had already been somewhat slow on a regular basis around the two roads.

“Typically, the traffic is bad anyway,” Bell said. “So we’ve been telling people, especially coming from Warren, to try different routes. For example, for those coming from Warren, we’ll say take North Road to 422, which will take you to the mall. There’s six or seven different entrances from that route. Route 422 runs along the southern part of the mall, and Route 46 runs along the eastern part.”

Bell said that while working from the Ohio Valley Mall, he checked in with the groundworkers at Eastwood about the traffic.

“They haven’t received any complaints from customers today,” he said in an email. “It’s just the nature of the beast. On a day like this, people are prepared. I don’t know that the pattern will influence anything heavily for us. People usually come equipped for the slowing in traffic.”

ODOT

In addition to comments last Sunday from Howland Police, ODOT District 4 public information officer Ray Marsch said that ODOT’s three-day closure earlier this month may have frustrated residents. But the state’s project is on schedule, he said.

“We’re on time. But of course, the snow will soon slow things down in the schedule. As of now, everything is good,” he said. “The contractors are working about five full days a week. That’s going to continue throughout the winter.”

In October, some residents complained about the traffic during the state’s demolition of the westbound Route 82 bridge of Route 46. A few business owners and customers suggested that traffic near the site is “already bad enough,” and that it would be worse during the holiday season.